The Merchant August 2022

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THE VOICE OF LUMBER MERCHANTS AND BUILDING MATERIAL DEALERS & DISTRIBUTORS IN THE WEST — SINCE 1922

CENTENNIAL SPECIAL ISSUE • SIDING & TRIM • HOUSEWRAP SELLING STRATEGIES

AUGUST 2022

REDWOOD

DECKING Composite can’t compare.

Like the foods we buy, when it comes to decking, we want natural and real.

Redwood is always available in abundance of options. So stock the shelves! Unlike mass-produced and inferior products, Redwood is strong, reliable and possesses many qualities not found in artificial products. They maintain temperatures that are comfortable in all climates.

Redwood Empire stocks several grades and sizing options of Redwood.

Call us at 707.894.4241 Visit us at buyRedwood.com

PROTECTS YOUR PROPERTY. RESPECTS THE ENVIRONMENT.

SUPERIOR SIDING Beautiful to behold and plentiful in supply, Superior Siding provides the rustic look of Western Red Cedar.

The hardwood plywood panels are faced and backed with chain-of-custody certified African Okoume, offering the look and mold resistance customers desire.

Superior Siding’s “in-the-field” applications include: • Soffits • Clear Siding • Board-and-Batten • Accent Walls • Wainscoting

HIND!

LEFT BE T E G T ’ N O D ICKLY—SO U Q S E V O M T ARKE

E B I R C S B SU

PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER Patrick Adams padams@526mediagroup.com

OUR M

VICE PRESIDENT Shelly Smith Adams sadams@526mediagroup.com PUBLISHERS EMERITUS David Cutler, Alan Oakes MANAGING EDITOR David Koenig dkoenig@526mediagroup.com SENIOR EDITOR Sara Graves • sgraves@526mediagroup.com COLUMNISTS James Olsen, Samantha Stallings, Claudia St. John, Dave Kahle CONTRIBUTORS David Cutler, Jack Dionne, Ken Dunham, Kaylen Handly, Stacey Douglas Jones, Rick Kapres, Alan Oakes, Gage McKinney, Susan Palé, Donna Whitaker

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Volume 101 • Number 8

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------------| CONTENTS

AUGUST 2022

STAY CONNECTED ON SOCIALS:

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@BPDMERCH

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

10 12 14 26

08

ACROSS THE BOARD

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OLSEN ON SALES

New hardwood plywood sets sights on western red cedar siding market

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TRANSFORMING TEAMS

MARGIN BUILDERS

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NEWS BRIEFS

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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NEW PRODUCTS

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CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE

40

IN MEMORIAM

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DATEBOOK

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ADVERTISERS INDEX

INDUSTRY TRENDS Board-and-batten exteriors charm with PVC components

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

Strategies for selling housewrap and flashing

THINKING AHEAD Gameplanning your business’ post-COVID playbook

SPECIAL SECTION HEAD TO THE BACK OF THE MAGAZINE FOR THE BEGINNING

02

CENTURY CELEBRATION

06

MEET THE FOUNDER

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VOL. 101 • NO. 8 |------------

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Join us for a trip down memory lane as we relive 100 years of the North American lumber industry, including:

Charismatic raconteur Jack Dionne THE VOICE OF LUMBER MERCHANTS AND BUILDING MATERIAL DEALERS & DISTRIBUTORS IN THE WEST — SINCE 1922

CENTENNIAL SPECIAL ISSUE • SIDING & TRIM • HOUSEWRAP SELLING STRATEGIES

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HOO-HOO IS WHO

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THE MIDDLE AGES

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A long-shared history with the fabled lumbermen’s fraternity

Longtime publisher David Cutler looks back to the beginning

REDWOOD

DECKING Composite can’t compare.

Like the foods we buy, when it comes to decking, we want natural and real.

Redwood is always available in abundance of options. So stock the shelves! Unlike mass-produced and inferior products, Redwood is strong, reliable and possesses many qualities not found in artificial products. They maintain temperatures that are comfortable in all climates.

Redwood Empire stocks several grades and sizing options of Redwood.

Call us at 707.894.4241

46

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF

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CHECK OUT THE

DIGITAL EDITION

Visit us at buyRedwood.com

RedwoodEmpire_DECKING+PRODUCTS_COVER_8.25”x 8.75”.indd 1 Merchant 8-22_Layout.indd 1

A

AUGUST 2022

4/23/20 2:18 PM 7/19/22 4:18 PM

TOTALLY RANDOM Former publisher Alan Oakes shares his adventures with The Merchant

WWW.BUILDING-PRODUCTS.COM

PROUD SUPPORTERS OF

august 2022

building-products.com

------------| ACROSS THE BOARD

AMERICAN DREAM ------------ BY PATRICK ADAMS THIS MONTH IS FULL of milestones. The Merchant Magazine is celebrating 100 years of continuous monthly service to the LBM industry. Sister publication Building Products Digest turns 40 this month. But I’m also reminded that in August of 2014, after living a life full of risk, I took my biggest risk and purchased these publications.

It was never part of a “plan” for me. I grew up very poor, in a crime-ridden area of Southern California. While it’s hard to believe, fights, shootings and about every crime you could imagine were a daily occurrence. I was told many times by my parents that when I grew up, I would be a garbage man. Dreaming about my future was filled with only basic needs and certainly I never imagined I would own my own publishing company.

It came about in a way that can only be described as fate or a miracle. A business broker I had met years prior called. Normally I would have let it go to voicemail, but this day I answered it. He explained that he was representing a small publishing company based on the West Coast, knew I was from California, and was calling for my “Rolodex” since he was an East Coast broker. For some reason, I said, “Tell me about it.” He went on to talk about the long history of the business faithfully serving an amazing industry full of hard-working Americans. That it had continued service through World Wars and economic hardships and had never had an unprofitable year. Simply put, it was a humble, tireless team serving an industry they love.

Here’s where things got a bit odd. I put him on hold and called my wife. When she answered, I said, “Babe, I have 30 seconds and someone on hold. He is selling a publishing company based on the West Coast that sounds like the perfect fit for our life. If it works, we will never have to move again, and our future is in our own hands. If it doesn’t, we will lose everything we have and will be starting over. What do you think?” For some context, I adore everything about my wife, including that she will take three months to pick out a paint color. She is not quick to make a decision! But, her answer was this: “For the over 20 years that I’ve known you, you have been asked to solve some of the most complicated problems for other people and you always figured out a way to do it. If they trusted you to solve their problems, don’t think it’s about time that we bet on ourselves?”

I still get choked up thinking about that defining moment.

I got back on the phone with the broker and said, “I’ll buy it.”

There was a long pause and he said, “Patrick, I haven’t shared

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any data with you or even told you how much he wants for it.”

I said, “I know.” He then asked, “How are you going to pay for it?” I said, “I don’t know.” Eleven bank rejections later, I found a bank willing to work with us in exchange for leveraging literally EVERYTHING we had spent our lifetime building. The rest, as they say, is history.

There have been several more acquisitions, new title launches, and service extensions such as websites, newsletters, podcasts, social media, events, education/training and more.

We have expanded to other industries and in fact, just launched our first subscription-based consumer publication. All of this investment and change has been in the face of rapidly rising costs. Just last year, paper increased 31% and postage 11% on top of the “regular” cost increases that challenge us all. It is not an easy business, and I wouldn’t have it any other way! The honor of being trusted to provide valuable business information to such amazing American Infrastructure industries makes every day something to be proud of. It is an honor to serve those who serve.

It is not an exaggeration that I am living my own American Dream and all of you have played a part in it. You welcomed an “outsider,” you trusted my leadership and my team, you were patient in judging the changes we’ve made, and, most of all, you gave us the chance to prove that we bring value to your business. I have met so many of you over the countless events I’ve attended and am honored to call many of you friends.

All of this and we’re just getting started! I would love to spill the beans and share everything we have planned for the coming year that hopefully will equip us to serve you for another 100 years. Because as we all know, in spite of technology, outsourcing and analytics, it is a relationship and trust that builds our businesses for future generations. And it is each of you who have taught me while I was pursuing “my” American Dream, that I can’t do it alone because it is OUR American Dream.

Thank you for the great privilege of serving you and for the trust you have placed in me and my team.

PATRICK S. ADAMS Publisher/President padams@526mediagroup.com building-products.com

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------------| INDUSTRY TRENDS

BOARD-AND-BATTEN EXTERIORS CHARM WITH PVC COMPONENTS ------------ BY RICK KAPRES WHAT COULD BE new about a centuries-old building technique like board-and-batten? Plenty, according to the homebuilders we meet these days. They tell us the popularity of the modern-historic farmhouse style is still on the rise.

And they praise a non-traditional material that lets them produce authentic-looking board-and-batten that’s supremely durable and easy to install. That material is premium cellular PVC.

VERSATILE PVC MIXES MASTERFULLY WITH MATERIALS RANGING FROM CEDAR SHAKES TO STONE TO CERAMIC TILE Board-and-batten, of course, originated as a traditional way to seal gaps between vertical siding boards on structures ranging from barns to churches to houses. Narrow, neatlyspaced wooden batten strips kept out the weather and, incidentally, made a pleasing pattern across a wall or a gable end.

Weather-beaten examples of board-and-batten still survive here and there in the American coun-

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PROJECTING UNDERSTATED confidence, this crisp board-and-batten façade was crafted entirely from weather-resistant PVC by Lemonias Development Co. The farmhouse-style exterior lends distinction to a Massachusetts home while keeping it in harmony with its surroundings. (Photos by Versatex)

tryside. But the past decade or so has seen an upsurge in its popularity among buyers of new homes, and renovators of older ones, who aim for an understated farmhouse touch. The big difference: today, instead of perishable lumber, they can opt for weather- and pest-resistant PVC construction.

Luis Bayer, owner of Bayer Construction Co., based in West Creek, N.J., stresses the advantage of starting with a PVC manufacturer who’s customer-oriented: “My clients weren’t too sure about the siding design that was specified

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for the house they planned, but they were positive they wanted a maintenance-free exterior. So I showed them how we could create a board-and-batten effect using highquality PVC sheet and PVC 1x4s.”

“The customer was sold. But then it hit me: To do the job right, I’d need 20-ft.-long sheets of 1/2” PVC—even though the longest in stock were only 18 ft. Luckily, I knew a manufacturer who’s recognized for helping builders solve problems like this, and they were willing to quickly supply four pallet-loads of 20-ft. sheets. building-products.com

“We hung those sheets the full height of the house—with no horizontal seams to break up the lines—and installed vertical PVC battens to complete the farmhouse effect. A year later, the client is still delighted with the design, and with the way the material stands up to the elements. They live on Long Beach Island, not far from the water, and they say it still looks like it was installed yesterday.”

John Dalo, owner of J.D. Pioneer, Bergen County, N.J., completed a 3,000-sq. ft. custom lakeside home three years ago. He’s impressed with the crisp precision and no-surprises performance of quality PVC. “The client and the architect wanted a contemporary version of a cottage, a shift from the big mansions we’ve been seeing. Our clients are starting to develop a feel for something more modest, but with plenty of character.”

Dalo and his team clad all four sides of the home with a board-andbatten treatment fashioned from standard 4x18, 1/2” PVC sheet and 18-ft. 5/8x3” PVC profiles, sourced from the same manufacturer that supplied Bayer. “The availability of those long pieces was a huge deal,” he says, in helping his team achieve clean, uninterrupted surfaces.

“It’s a little unusual to see a total PVC exterior in Bergen County,” Dalo says. “But this is a non-traditional design that depends on perfect fit and finish. The PVC material behaved exceptionally well. Our installation came off without a hitch.

And my one big worry, shrinkage, just hasn’t happened. A couple of years in, that’s a very good sign.

Two years after installation the product is holding up well and our clients are extremely happy with the low maintenance.”

Headquartered in North Andover, Ma., Peter and John Lemonias are the co-owners of Lemonias Development Co. They appreciate PVC’s talent for harmonizing with contrasting materials. “We were building two houses in the same neighborhood, and we wanted to give them completely different looks,” says Peter.

“One is colonial and the other farmhouse style, which deliver a lot of personality with simple materials. building-products.com

IN THIS LAKESIDE SETTING, an exterior of premium PVC permits an all-white board-and-batten home constructed by J.D. Pioneer, Inc., of Bergen County, N.J., to contrast visually with its wooded surroundings while it resists dampness, insects and bright sunlight.

Low maintenance was a must, so we knew PVC would play a part.”

“We put together a mix of cedar clapboard and cedar shakes, field stone, black window frames, black metal roofing and a board-and-batten front elevation. It’s a 5,700-sq. ft. house, so the front elevation is pretty significant,” says John. “We assembled the background with 1/2” 4x10 PVC sheets. The 10-ft. lengths gave us what we needed to match the floor-to-ceiling heights, and we trimmed the seam between the stories with a horizontal 1x8 board.

Then we installed 1x3 battens, 16” on center, to create the board-andbatten look.”

“It shows a lot of character, and it needs almost no maintenance. The owners love it,” adds Peter.

The farmhouse touch of boardand-batten can enhance renovation projects, too, says Mike Yauger of Approved Contractors, Inc., in Bensalem, Pa. “A lot of homeowners today are leaning toward this look.

Add board-and-batten to even 25% or 30% of the front of a house, and balance it with the texture of natural stone, and you have a beautiful combination.”

On one recent project, he says, the workability of PVC made it simple to create a low-maintenance board-and-batten gable wall. “We started with 1/2” sheets and ripped them down to size right there on

site. The result is quietly distinctive, and it’ll look that way for a long time to come. It’s a great investment because it adds lasting curb appeal and it won’t be damaged by sun, weather, or insects. It just goes on and on.”

But Yauger points out that PVC’s potential goes way beyond all-white, farmhouse simplicity. He transformed his own home into a showcase of PVC possibilities. He mixed the house’s original brick with sculptural PVC brackets and mouldings; PVC trimboards that are laminated in color and realistic woodgrain; natural wood tongue-and-groove; ceramic tile; and manufactured and natural stone. A sleek stainless-steel hearth framed by a rugged stone accent wall provides a focal point for an outdoor-living space.

Style in homebuilding changes over the years, but good design never goes out of style. We are gratified to see new generations of homeowners adopt classic exterior treatments—and bring them to life with materials that will endure. MM

RICK KAPRES Rick Kapres is VP of sales & marketing for Versatex Building Products. To learn more, please visit www.versatex.com.

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------------| PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

NEW HARDWOOD PLYWOOD SETS SIGHTS ON WRC SIDING MARKET ------------ BY DAVID KOENIG OVER THE LAST 20 years, a tight supply of western red cedar has created a robust market among high-end homes and resorts for plywood siding faced and backed with the similarly rustic-toned African hardwood okoume.

Roseburg pioneered the sale of okoume plywood in the U.S. with its Breckenridge siding, and in time others followed suit. Four years ago, emboldened by its purchase of exotic hardwood specialist Olympic Panel, Swanson Group began looking into how it could produce a similar product. According to Ken Pratt, technical director formerly for Olympic and now Swanson, “We had a lot of experience with hundreds of different species of wood and connections around the globe, so we knew that we could possibly get into this siding business.”

Swanson sought a species that looked like western red cedar, and was highly available, mold resistant, and could be chain-ofcustody certified. Through intensive research and many failed tests it was revealed okoume to be the perfect match.

After finding the right species, Swanson committed itself to identifying the right partners to supply it.

Pratt said. “We made sure we found a manufacturer who was harvesting legal wood, who had

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SWANSON’S Glendale, Or., facility is the world’s largest specialty plywood mill, able to produce about 300 different types of plywood, including okoume Superior Siding. (Photos by Swanson Group)

been established for decades—over 30 years, had integrity, and had the ability to supply us with okoume monthly, legally and ethically.”

Bot Swanson’s chosen manufacturer and its longtime broker (Argo Fine Imports) are OLB certified, so Swanson itself

august 2022

underwent OLB chain-of-custody certification. Although the process took about 18 months instead of the usual six months due to the pandemic, Swanson passed the audits “with flying colors.”

Swanson now produces okoumefaced and backed Superior Siding at building-products.com

its plywood mills in Springfield and Glendale, Or. Panels include plain rough sawn square edge, plain shiplap, textured rough sawn or sanded 11/32”, 15/32”, and 19/32” in 8’, 9’ and 10’ lengths.

In its first year of production— 2020—Swanson shipped 64,000 panels, and the company expects the volume to increase.

In-the-field applications for the Superior line include clear siding, soffits, board-and-batten, accents walls, and wainscoting. The biggest market so far has been luxury homes and ski resorts like Aspen, Sun Valley, and Salt Lake City.

“It’s the look, the rustic wood, like a lodge or chalet out in the woods,” Pratt explained. “This is a modern lodge or cabin look when you’re not building with logs. You’re not dealing with hardboard, or fiber cement, or OSB.” The product is not only Lacey Act compliant, but also California Fire Wildland Urban Interface certified, with quality assured through PLC monitoring.

building-products.com

OKOUME VENEERS provide Superior Siding with the classic appearance, weatherability and moisture resistance of western red cedar.

When meeting with contractors, Swanson attempts to quell their fears, stressing Superior Siding is legal (“You won’t have to stop construction or strip stuff off the

home”) and supply is steady. The key message: “We’re protecting your property from the elements while respecting the environment.” MM

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------------| MARGIN BUILDERS

STRATEGIES FOR SELLING HOUSEWRAP AND FLASHING ------------ BY KAYLEN HANDLY THE RESIDENTIAL building envelope is a system of parts, with each element impacting the performance of the other. Together, the right combination of products and installation techniques will create a robust wall system that is durable, energy-efficient, and moistureresistant.

role in helping them find the right products for each project. Here are some strategies to consider to help elevate your housewrap and flashing sales efforts.

Though builders and remodelers are specifying and installing the wall products, dealers can play a critical

Building science is a category all on its own, so much so that the construction industry has companies, schools, and specialists dedicated to it. While you can’t be expected to know every nuance of the building envelope, having a basic understanding of how the products you sell work together can be a crucial resource for your customers.

1. Learn as much as possible

Your manufacturer representatives are your best first course of action. They can offer product knowledge sessions for your sales team (and your customers), and many offer video tutorials and other options.

Be proactive by having your rep conduct an introductory workshop each time you bring on new employees.

Many also offer videos, white papers, and other resources for ongoing learning.

2. Look at the wall as a system and sell products accordingly While it’s tempting to sell what you have on hand or switch customers over one product at a time, wall systems perform best when sold just like that—as a system, with each component working together to give moisture a path down and away from the wall. This also ensures compatibility between products and helps prevent failures. If your customer is buying housewrap, make sure they’re also buying flashing, and the right flashing for that housewrap and wall system application.

DISPLAY by SRS in Reading, Pa., shows the recommended wall systems for the different claddings they sell, including an open-joint cladding system with composite decking used as siding. (Photos by Benjamin Obdyke)

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Your manufacturers’ representatives can help you understand which flashing products work best with each housewrap you sell. Some manufacturers may promote their products in systems according to applications, making the process even easier. For example, our Air Barrier Drainable Housewrap System, designed to probuilding-products.com

Each siding is different in both its physical structure and its material makeup, and that will influence what’s needed behind the walls. For example, vinyl siding projects off the wall and doesn’t absorb moisture, so it doesn’t need a rainscreen behind it; a flat weather resistant barrier will be sufficient. An engineered wood siding, however, will need a drainage plane provided by a rainscreen or a drainable housewrap to ensure water can drain away and not be absorbed by the siding.

This is essential to protecting the siding and its finish while reducing maintenance needs. In fact, some cladding materials require specific housewrap products to preserve their warranty.

BENJAMIN OBDYKE’S Air Barrier Drainable Housewrap system combines true air seal capability with true drainage performance.

Ideally, all homes will have the most robust and efficient wall system possible, but monetary and homebuyer expectations play a role.

Dealers with a deeper understanding of the project’s budget, green/ energy certifications, geographic location, and other factors can help match their customers with the best possible system.

Finally, advocate that the builder use cap fasteners rather than regular staples. It’s an upsell but can help achieve maximum warranty coverage.

4. Create helpful displays

DESIGNED for open-joint cladding systems, Benjamin Obdyke’s UV-Protected Rainscreen System includes Invisiwrap UV Black Housewrap, HydroFlash UV+ flashing, and Batten UV battens.

vide the utmost in air seal capability and true drainage performance, combines self-adhered drainable housewrap, corner sill treatment, and flashing tape, liquid-applied flashing, or UV-resistant flashing.

As a dealer, selling the system can make the process more accessible for your sales team.

For instance, if your customers are installing a trendy open-joint building-products.com

cladding system, our UV-Protected Rainscreen System, consisting of UV-resistant black housewrap, UV-resistant flashing, and a UVresistant batten-style rainscreen, accommodates UV exposure behind open siding.

3. Understand other project factors, especially cladding

Seeing (and feeling) is still believing, and having samples and display boards on hand can help builders visualize how the wall systems you sell work together. Displays are also critical for educating on new building systems, such as open-joint cladding; this trend requires a UV-resistant housewrap solution that is best explained with visuals. MM

KAYLEN HANDLY Kaylen Handly is technical innovation manager for Benjamin Obdyke.

To learn more or to set up a virtual training session, please visit www.benjaminobdyke.com.

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------------| OLSEN ON SALES

FEAR DOESN’T SELL ------------ BY JAMES OLSEN “SCARED MONEY doesn’t win” is an old gambling saying that means you have to play to win and you can’t win big unless you bet big. The same can be said of sales. Timid salespeople will be treated poorly and will have difficulty being successful in sales.

Why? Because sales is a transfer of emotion. Uncomfortable salespeople make customers uncomfortable.

Prospecting Looking for new business is arguably the hardest thing we do as salespeople. Most salespeople do it early in their careers because they have to, then once they build their business to a comfortable level, they do as little as possible. Just like anything else, if we don’t practice, we get out of “playing” shape. Since salespeople do so little prospecting, they lose their “prospecting muscles” and do it poorly creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of “prospecting is hard.”

This mentality is wrong. Prospecting is easy. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. What is difficult is hanging on to existing business, where we do have something to lose.

Master Sellers know that prospecting is freedom. If we are good prospectors no one owns us. Not our current accounts nor our company.

They know they can go out and find new business and quickly because they embrace the hunt for new business instead of being afraid of it.

What are some of the mistakes that “fear of prospecting” creates?

Beat-Around-the-Bushitis Nervous salespeople use too many words to say simple things.

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Nervous salesperson: “I, uh, was wondering, you know, we sell lumber in this area, and, uh, I was trying to find some new customers so I was wondering if you could put me through to the person who does your lumber buying?”

Master Seller: “Good morning, my name is Susan Johnson with Johnson Lumber. Could you please tell me who does your lumber buying?”

Fear of the No Most salespeople are so afraid of the “NO” they don’t even ask for the order. They present the product and wait for the customer to buy.

Quotron: “Good morning, John, I’ve got, uh, pretty good deal. I’ve got a truck of studs I can get into you at $750/MBF, whaddya think?”

(This is not a close!)

Or “Good morning, John. I’ve got, uh, pretty good deal. I’ve got a truck of studs I can get into you at $750/MBF,” then silently wait for the customer to buy. The problem with this approach is that it works. It just doesn’t work as well as directly asking for the order: Master Seller: “Susan, I have a fantastic deal on three trucks of 2x4 16’s we’ve been looking for. The market is moving, this is stock you love, and I can work with you on the shipment. Do you have three PO’s for me?”

Customer: “Well, maybe. What’s the price?”

Master Seller: “That’s the best part. We can deliver these for $950/ MBF, which is a great deal today and will be even a better deal when they land. Can we put these together?”

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Overcoming Objections (or Not) Overcoming objections is the highest technical sales skill there is, and few salespeople know how to do it—or even try. The Master Seller embraces objections; they see them as a cry for help or for additional information or encouragement. As a student of mine said, “It feels like arguing.” If this is what you are feeling then your customers will feel it also and you will be in an argument or at least something that feels like one.

Customer: “Yeah, that’s a little rich for my blood.” (What a surprise, a price objection!)

Master Seller: “Peter, I understand that it’s more than you want to pay, but the market is moving, this is stock you love and the tallies and shipment work perfectly with our current inventory, so why don’t we put these on?” Their tone is relaxed and confident. They know the customer is going to say yes and transfer this emotion to the customer.

Scared, timid salespeople expect the worst and transfer these feelings to potential customers. Master Sellers assume something good will happen. They walk, talk and act like the business will get done and transfer this positivity—which is easy to say yes and difficult to say no to.

JAMES OLSEN James Olsen is principal of Reality Sales Training, Portland, Or. Call him at (503) 544-3572 or email james@realitysalestraining.com.

building-products.com

------------| TRANSFORMING TEAMS

COMPENSATION 101

WHAT DO THOSE BORING TERMS MEAN ANYWAY?

------------ BY SUSAN PALÉ WELCOME TO Compensation 101, where we define and give examples for those boring compensation terms we throw around all the time.

You’ve heard a lot of them recently and probably experienced some of them too, as we navigate through a volatile, often unexplainable, labor market. Let’s begin with the basics!

Compensation Strategy Developing and implementing a compensation strategy means making decisions regarding how your organization will pay employees compared to the external market.

Most large organizations have developed comprehensive compensation strategies; many small organizations have not. A key component of any compensation strategy is determining how you want to set compensation levels relative to the external market.

LEAD – An organization may determine that it wants to LEAD the market. This means that the organization decides to pay more than competitors. That might be 10% more, 20% more, etc. The idea is that you will be known as the “best payer” in your competitive markets.

This strategy works well when an organization is growing rapidly and successfully, has $$$$ to spend on recruitment and retention, or faces particularly stiff competition for talent.

MATCH – Most organizations decide they want to MATCH the

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market. To do this effectively, it’s necessary to gather compensation information about pay levels for specific jobs and geographic locations. This strategy works well for most organizations as long as salary information is regularly reviewed and updated as the market changes.

For example, pay levels for entry level employees have increased more than 10% in 2022 in some geographic areas. Salaries that matched or even led the market a couple of years ago may now lag the market.

LAG – Some organizations determine that their pay will LAG the external market. Sometimes this happens by accident, but it can be a successful compensation strategy.

Pay is important to employees, but often “perks” such as flexible scheduling, remote work, and generous PTO can be equally important. Some Affinity HR Group clients pay the full premium for family medical coverage—that cost can easily exceed 15k annually.

It’s important to remember any of these approaches—lead, match, lag—can work for you if they’re well developed and maintained.

More Terms Defined Successful compensation programs are both externally competitive and internally equitable.

EXTERNALLY COMPETITIVE means that an organization’s jobs are valued appropriately compared to jobs in the external market.

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Think of it as a deeper dive into the idea of matching the market. To be externally competitive, an organization must understand who their competitors for talent are and that these can vary significantly by job type and geographic location. For example, it’s important to know what industry pay standards are for certain positions, but if your new hires usually come from other industries and employees leave to take jobs in other industries, that information may be less valuable than information specific to a geographic area.

And employees in Accounting, Human Resources, IT, and Customer Service can easily find jobs in other industries. Entry-level employees also can choose jobs in different industries, so if you regularly hire entry-level employees, it’s critical to understand who else is looking to hire them.

INTERNALLY EQUITABLE means that employees in similar positions with similar skills are compensated similarly. That’s a lot of “similars,” but similar doesn’t mean same. In organizations with formal compensation structures, internal equity is achieved by assigning specific jobs to a specific salary “grade” and salary “range” and paying individuals within that range based on performance, skills, length of service, etc.

In organizations without formal compensation structures, these same factors are frequently used to determine individual rates of pay. building-products.com

SALARY COMPRESSION occurs when the pay of one or more employees is close to or even exceeds the pay of other employees doing the same or similar work. Salary compression can occur throughout an organization, but is most common when new hires (hard to come by in this labor market) demand salaries higher than incumbents with more experience and when salaries for new entry level employees (also in high demand) equal or exceed salaries for lead or supervisory employees.

It’s easy to blame salary compression issues on COVID, The Great Resignation, The Great Reprioritization (Fast Company), The Great Recognition (U.S. Department of Commerce), or whatever best describes this crazy labor market. The reality is that salary compression has been a problem organizations have faced for many years. It’s a complex issue that occurs over a long period of time and, as a result, doesn’t have an easy fix. Regular reviews of paid salaries and salary adjustments based

on these reviews are critical steps in addressing salary compression.

PAY EQUITY – The term pay equity is sometimes used interchangeably with internal equity.

In the past, the two were pretty much the same, but pay equity has recently taken on a different meaning. The term now refers most commonly to legislation (primarily at state levels) requiring employers to pay men and women equally for “substantially similar” work. Some states have expanded this legislation to include fair-pay requirements for race and other protected characteristics.

The recent labor agreements for equal pay for the U.S. men’s and women’s soccer teams represent the settlement of a pay equity lawsuit.

SUSAN PALÉ Susan Palé, CCP, is vice president for compensation with Affinity HR Group.

Reach her at (877) 660-6400 or contact@affinityhrgroup.com.

One. Stop. Shop.

Q. With rising costs, I want to

give my employees a gift card to reward them for their hard work.

What should I consider?

Q. Acknowledging an employee’s

contribution to the company is almost always a good thing. Making the effort to recognize an employee’s hard work helps reinforce their commitment to the company.

When you give a gift card (or any monetary benefit) to an employee, you should consider the tax implications. Some bonuses may be taxable and therefore must be reported accordingly. Usually discretionary bonuses—those that are given “just because”—are not taxable. However, if they become expected or a regular occurrence, then they may be.

Conversely, non-discretionary bonuses—those that are given regularly or as part of a compensation plan (such as performance or holiday bonuses)—are usually taxable.

Regardless of type, timing or value of the reward, give it with the right message. Just handing someone a gift card will not have the same impact as giving it along with a personalized conversation or note about their contribution to express how much you value them.

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Storing millwork can be tough. Size variation, custom orders, temperature sensitivity—all can add to the challenges suppliers face as they seek efficient onsite storage solutions. That’s why Greg Zuern decided to try something completely different. Together with CT Darnell and Sunbelt Rack, Zuern Building Products consolidated all their millwork into one reimagined building for maximum efficiency.

The results speak for themselves. Thanks to this change, they saw: 50% faster pick times $8MM more in deliveries with fewer trucks and drivers Maximized inventory efficiency and increased SKU count by over 15%

CT-Darnell.com • Sunbelt-Rack.com 1-800-353-0892 © WTD Holdings, Inc., 2021. All rights reserved.

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BIG CREEK PURCHASING O’CONNOR LUMBER

Growing redwoods for the future was the original tagline for Big Creek Lumber and now 76 years later, the company is excited to also be growing its lumberyard locations with the addition of a sixth retail lumber and Ace hardware store. Davenport, Ca.-based Big Creek is in the process of acquiring O’Connor Lumber, Vallejo, Ca., and will change the name to Big Creek Lumber when the sale is finalized.

The store will remain open with the same products and staff. “Big Creek is pleased to have found a great fit with O’Connor Lumber. We like that it is a turn-key, wellrun yard with a knowledgeable team that we can grow into the future. We plan to keep most things the same and are excited to also offer a full-service lumberyard with more lumber selection and a larger inventory,” said Kevin Dussault, Big Creek’s retail divisional manager.

Big Creek’s leadership team is eager to carry on the traditions set by Joe and Rose Pierre and their family for the last three generations. “Rose and I really enjoy working with Big Creek and their staff. We are so grateful that our employees are being given the opportunity to work for Big Creek,” said Joe Pierre, current owner of O’Connor Lumber.

As a part of the transition, Big Creek will roll out some customer service initiatives including offering customer credit accounts, an expanded delivery zone, and a larger assortment of lumber and building materials. All O’Connor employees are being encouraged to stay on the team as it transitions to Big Creek Lumber.

A grand opening will be scheduled for the fall.

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------------| NEWS BRIEFS Home Depot is seeking to build a 57,500-sq. ft.

MDO (Market Delivery Operations) facility in Nampa, Id., to handle quicker delivery of bulkier items.

All-Coast Forest Products, Cloverdale, Ca., installed a factory-new McDonough 54” resaw and Michael Weinig Powermat 1500 planer and grinding room. The new machinery will increase capacity, improve quality, and provide more, just-in-time service for customers.

USNR, Woodland, Wa., has acquired Timber Automation, Hot Springs, Ar., manufacturer of the LogPro line of log yard equipment, plus optimization, edgers and lumber processing equipment.

Oldcastle APG has completed its $1.9-billion acquisition of Barrette Outdoor Living, Middleburg Heights, Oh. The acquisition bolsters Oldcastle APG’s portfolio and expands opportunities for customers to access end-to-end architectural solutions.

Firestone Building Products, Nashville, Tn., is being renamed the Holcim Building Envelope division of its Solutions & Products Business Unit.

Firestone’s iconic brand is now Elevate.

HPM Building Supply’s HPM Foundation awarded 10 scholarships to outstanding Hawaiian high school and college students.

building-products.com

BIP FORMS NEW CALIFORNIA LUMBER CHAIN Building Industry Partners has launched a new lumber and building materials platform, West Coast Lumber, now operating four locations throughout Southern and Central California.

The company’s Agoura Hills and Camarillo locations were established through the January 2022 acquisition of 45-year-old Roadside Lumber & Hardware.

West Coast Lumber then opened two new LBM facilities, one in Bakersfield and the other in San Diego to expand its ability to serve Southern and Central California.

West Coast Lumber plans to eventually expand its product offering with truss, millwork, and other value-added component capabilities.

Matt Ogden, founder and managing partner of BIP, said, “We have assembled world-class regional and cross-sectoral business leaders around the organization to help us deliver value to current and future customers and become the employer-of-choice for the best and brightest in Southern California LBM.”

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Joe Lawrence, CEO of West Coast Lumber, draws on over 35 years of experience in the California LBM industry to lead the platform. He most recently served as senior VP for the Southwest Region with Builders FirstSource and was previously president of Dixieline Lumber. Jim Stockman, president of West Coast Lumber, previously partnered with BIP on the firm’s creation of Homewood Holdings, and its rapid growth and successful exit to American

Construction Source in 2020.

They are joined in senior management by Erich Kepner, CFO; Bill Shadden, VP supply; Carlos Gonzalez, VP sales-Inland Empire, Orange & San Diego counties; Bob Erskin, VP sales-Kern, Ventura & Los Angeles counties; and Claudia Gonzalez, HR director.

BIP operating partners Tony Ciampaglio, Peter Stroble, and Lonnie Schield will serve on West Coast’s board, and Maged Diab will serve as board chair. Diab previously served as president of MiTek USA.

KODIAK ADDS WESTERN DOOR PRODUCER Kodiak Building Partners, Highlands Ranch, Co., has purchased nine-unit custom door manufacturer Sun Mountain Custom Doors, Berthoud, Co. Founded in 1998, Sun Mountain manufactures high-end solid core wood doors at its northern Colorado facility and showcases them at its eight design centers in Denver and Colorado Springs, Co.; Scottsdale, Az.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Park City, Ut.; San Francisco, Ca.; Fletcher, N.C.;

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and Naples, Fl. President Ed Wright will stay on, along with his 130-employee team.

“We feel like the U.S. map is wide open to us, as is the appetite to buy American-made,” Wright said. “Our direct ship model and high-quality prefinished product works for us, and builders, architects, interior designers, and homeowners who love our products.”

Kodiak now operates 103 locations in 20+ states.

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------------| THINKING AHEAD

POST-COVID PLAYBOOK

A SPECIAL SERIES FROM NAWLA

------------ BY DONNA WHITAKER FOR THE PAST couple of years, lumber companies have had to play the game by COVID rules. We spent much of the pandemic in defense mode, reacting to one challenge tossed our way after another—all while the goalposts seemed to keep moving. Circumstances meant closing the pages, at least temporarily, on a playbook of tried-andtrue business practices that have helped shape this industry over the decades. New strategies necessarily emerged to fill the gap, keeping the ball in play despite the public health emergency.

With the brunt of the pandemic now behind us, however, it’s time to stop playing defense and start playing offense! And by that, I mean returning to the basics: the processes and ideals that this industry was built on and that we know run our businesses effectively. That doesn’t mean giving up the approaches that got us through the worst of the crisis, but perhaps finding a happy medium to accommodate both the old and the new.

Running It Back Let’s not forget that the wood products industry was built on relationships; this is a “people” business to its core. While COVID took some of that away from us, technologies like Teams and Zoom helped to preserve it to some extent. There’s no doubt they’ve earned a place in our operations going forward. Indeed, they’ll likely prove useful in helping

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regain control over our costs again (i.e., playing offense) by using video conferencing to save on unnecessary travel, for instance.

At the same time, there’s no real substitute for face-to-face interaction; and that’s an underlying value we would do well to re-focus on. Live attendance at trade shows is back and restrictions on visiting customer sites are gone, providing a perfect opportunity to start rekindling old relationships. It’s also a chance to elevate budding relationships formed during the pandemic and cultivated primarily through online meetings.

Seeing contacts in person, some of them for the first time ever, breaking bread with them and talking about family and other matters important to customers—these capture a certain kind of dynamic that is particularly strong in our industry. We’ve missed bonding with our people, but I believe that’s something that we should—and will—see renewed as we move forward.

That goes not just for clients but for each other, our colleagues and teams. Remote work was absolutely a necessity during the pandemic… but it also threatened to erode the family-like atmosphere so common among lumber companies. Now that COVID is hopefully in our rearview, the lumber industry should spend some time on strategies to rebuild what we’ve lost in terms of culture.

As a leader, you must continually challenge yourself to think of ways

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to make work fun for your people, to make it so they’re excited to get up and do their job every day. At Interfor, I made a point during the COVID shutdown to arrange after-hour activities to routinely engage my team, from online escape rooms to virtual wine tastings. With occupancy in the office trending back up across the industry, it’s important to keep seeking ways to fellowship and bring workers together to foster the cohesiveness that has defined lumber companies from the start.

Passing the Ball Even as we work on getting back to our foundation, we must look to the future. Who’s minding the store?

Labor continues to represent a major challenge, and attracting plus retaining quality workers is critical.

Interestingly, I found that the pandemic heightened management’s sense of who was interested in carving out a career and who just wanted a job to meet their needs at that moment. Aside from better evaluating existing employees, Interfor also tweaked the interview process for prospects. Recruiting activities and interviews moved online during COVID, forcing managers to assess candidates from a different angle.

Although we’re getting back to normal, we’ll likely continue to hold periodic virtual events even as we visit colleges in person and resume in-person interviews.

Meanwhile, it’s not just about getting new people—it’s about attracting building-products.com

the younger generation as well. This industry is undeniably maturing, making it all the more important to address the transition to the next generation. Where do we reach our eventual replacements? What will make jobs in lumber more appealing to young people? How do we hold on to high school graduates who might be interested in a truck driving career but can’t legally take the wheel of a semi-truck until they turn 21? How do we keep from “losing” them during that three-year interim?

These are the kind of questions we should be thinking about now.

One possible answer is to promote the best of what this industry has to offer. At Interfor, that means environmental stewardship, emphasis on safety, and care for our people, among other attributes. We regularly review practices and procedures to monitor and report on environmental performance; this is the kind of commitment that appeals to younger generations, who are hyper-conscious about the environment and sustainability at the corporate level.

Forward-thinking companies understand that not only can we learn from

JOIN THE

their passion in this area, but we can also leverage this mentality and take it to the next level by grooming them as future leaders.

Another “selling point” at Interfor is the focus on safety—not only in our mills but in the offices and on the road, too. Safety comes first in everything we do every day. That’s only one way that we care for our employees—who we want to position for a career where they are able to contribute, grow and prosper. Our team defines our culture! We take care of each other, value each other’s opinions, and are committed to our communities and customers.

Playing up these and other strengths helps not only younger prospects, but any prospect, see beyond flashier vocations to recognize the value of the wood products industry. It’s also important that the industry keep its eyes open to diversity. Speaking for Interfor, I can say strides have already been made, but more must be done across the board to not only welcome more women and ethnic minorities into the fold but also to coach and promote them in leadership roles.

The End Game That’s the industry I envision for the foreseeable future: one that is grounded in the bedrock principles underpinning how we do business but that is improved by certain changes demanded by the pandemic. Admittedly, we’re still wrestling with remnants from the crisis. Supply-chain disruptions, questions about the most efficient way to get product from Point A to Point B, labor shortages and other challenges persist as we chip away at the second half of 2022. However, I think it’s safe to say that COVID is no longer calling the shots. Once we stop playing “D” and start quarterbacking the game, we can return our focus to building a better future.

DONNA WHITAKER Donna Whitaker is VP of sales & marketing for Interfor (www.interfor.com).

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------------| MOVERS & SHAKERS Steve Osterman, formerly with MOSO North America, is now in sales & market development for NOVA USA Wood Products, Forest Grove, Or. Sheri Tarr has joined TP Trucking, Central Point, Or., as Arizonabased western sales mgr.

Wade Gardner has been promoted to president of Builders Alliance and Frontier Building Supply, Washington State divisions of Kodiak Building Partners, Highlands Ranch, Co. He replaces Kelly Fox, who was earlier elevated to senior VP of General Lumber. Kodiak VP of communication & culture Cally Fromme retired June 30.

Vincent Remer has joined Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau, Federal Way, Wa., as director of technical services.

Emily Gravel, ex-Builders FirstSource, is now a lumber estimator with West Coast Lumber, Agoura Hills, Ca.

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Taryn Taylor has been promoted to sales mgr. at Boise Cascade, Denver, Co. Blaine Oswald has been promoted to general mgr. of Do it Best’s Woodburn, Or., warehouse.

Promotions at Fort Wayne, In., headquarters include: Ryan Heine to director of brand integeration; Dan Colvin, forest products specialist; Robby Ehlerding, category management business analyst; Michelle Hutker, building materials trader; Jim Knepper, forest products technical specialist; Jake McGee, associate building materials trader; Floyd Stilson, millwork specialist; Zach Vanlandingham, forest products specialist (western species); and Rob Williams, product sales mgr.

(SPF& reload operations).

Melissa Jones, ex-Pentair, has joined Cornerstone Building Brands as president, U.S. siding.

Marcia J. Avedon, Ph.D. was elected to the board of Acuity Brands.

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Drew Meng has been named CEO of PrimeSource Building Products, Irving, Tx., succeeding Tom Koos, who remains CEO of PrimeSource Brands. Robert Roche is now PrimeSource Brands CFO. David Paulson, L&W Supply, Santa Rosa, Ca., and 19 other branch mgrs.—including Eric Quach, Hayward, Ca.; Brian Robbins, Tucson, Az.; Francisco Vega, Twin Falls, Id.; Vince Garcia, Fresno, Ca.; Mike Saechao, San Francisco, Ca.; and Morgan Maurer, Marysville, Wa.—were inducted into L&S’s Managing Partner Program.

Jack Glover and Brooke Stutzer, Boise Cascade, were among 10 recipients of North American Wholesale Lumber Association’s 2022 Scholarship Program, along with Grant Comer, Tri State Forest Products; David C.T. Zhang, Interfor; ; Jennifer Eannucci, US Lumber; and Maggie Birks, Estelle Jones, Mary Ellen Owings, Kalem Stephens, and Christopher Roberts, all of Weyerhauser. Each receives a $2,500 scholarship.

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Steve Furr, Viance’s director of engineering & technical services, was inducted into the International Hot Rod Association Hall of Fame.

He’s won a combined 92 IHRA and NHRA victories and made over 170 final-round appearances.

Kent C. Strait may have celebrated a little too festively at the recent anniversary party for MungusFungus Forest Products, Climax, Nv., report owners Hugh Mungus and Freddy Fungus.

909-635-1560 • www.kelleher.com Headquarters: San Rafael, CA Sales/Distribution: Novato • Sacramento • Ontario, CA • Honolulu, HI Door Division: Sonoma, CA

WESTERN ACQUIRING CALVERT

A newly-formed Mass Timber subsidiary of Western Forest Products, Vancouver, B.C., has agreed to buy certain assets of glulam manufacturer Calvert Co., Vancouver, Wa., for $12 million, including $2.5 million in inventory.

Calvert is one of the oldest glulam manufacturers in the U.S. with more than 60 years of experience producing high quality glulam beams in multiple species for industrial, commercial and residential projects around the world.

Calvert has manufacturing plants in Washougal and Vancouver, Wa., with a combined annual glulam capacity of 35 million bd. ft. on a two-shift basis. Its operations employ approximately 60 employees and produced 13 million bd. ft. of glulam in 2021 on a single shift.

“We are excited to welcome Calvert’s employees to Western.

This acquisition will help position Western to capitalize on the growing North American Mass Timber building market and is consistent with our strategy of moving up the product value chain and growing our portfolio of value added products,” said Don Demens, Western’s president and CEO. “We look forward to working with Calvert’s owner, Doug Calvert, who will be remaining with Western following the closing of the transaction in a consulting capacity.”

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022. As part of the transaction, Western has created a new engineered wood subsidiary, which will remain focused on further growth opportunities throughout the entire Mass Timber value chain. building-products.com

A Legacy of Service Since 1970, the Kelleher Corporation has been a leader in the moulding and lumber industry. Today, we are one of the largest distributors of wood mouldings in the Western U.S. We represent some of the world’s finest ood moulding mills, to provide a diverse range of products at affordable prices.

Kelleher Milestones

1970

Kelleher Lumber Co. founded

5 Opens Blackpoint Facility 5 Opens Sacramento DC 5 Introduces Primed Fingerjoint mouldings 5Opens Southern California distribution 5 Pioneer in FSC certificatio 5 Opens Hawaii Facility 5Develops largest selection of MDF mouldings 5 on West Coast Opens Carneros DC

5 Opens Ontario DC 5 Begins distributing NewTechWood composite siding

1972 1985 1987 1989 1999 1999 1999 2000 2005 2021

6 Current Product Offerings include: • Mouldings • Lumber • Siding • Primed Boards • Advantage Plus • Doors • NewTechWood Composite Siding

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US LBM TO ACQUIRE FOXWORTH-GALBRAITH US LBM has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber Co., Plano, Tx. Founded in 1901 by W.L. Foxworth and H.W. Galbraith, the chain today operates 28 locations across Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas under the Foxworth-Galbraith banner and two locations in Oklahoma under the Forest Lumber brand. Its primary customers are pro builders, commercial contractors and homeowners, which Fox-Gal serves from its building materials yards, distribution centers, home centers and manufacturing locations, which are focused primarily on floor and roof trusses and structural beams.

Upon completion of the acquisition this fall, US LBM will operate 80 locations in Texas, 13 in Arizona, nine in New Mexico, five in Colorado, and four in Oklahoma.

“US LBM shares Foxworth-Galbraith’s principles of service, integrity and providing solutions for customers and a great place to work for our people,” said Fox-Gal CEO/

president Jack Foxworth. “We’re excited for the many new opportunities this partnership will create for our employees and customers.”

“Over the past 120 years, the Foxworth and Galbraith families and generations of associates have built one of the most widely respected and successful building materials distributors in the industry, and we are proud that they will be joining US LBM,” said US LBM president and CEO L.T. Gibson. “The addition of Foxworth-Galbraith augments our already robust network in the Southwest, expands US LBM’s reach and reinforces our strong position in several key housing markets, including the growing Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix metro areas.”

US LBM’s existing locations in the Southwest go to market under multiple locally recognized brand names, including R&K Building Supply, Higginbotham Brothers, Parker’s Building Supply, and J.P. Hart Lumber and Components.

GREEN BUILDING FORECAST TO DOUBLE GLOBALLY The worldwide green building materials market should nearly double over the next five years, reaching $523.7 billion by 2027, according to recent analysis by Future Market Insights, Inc. The climb would represent 11.06% annual growth from 2021’s $280.5 billion—a rate expected to continue through 2032.

Insulation is forecast to be the fastest-growing application, rising at a pace of 11.7% during the projected period due to its excellent energy efficiency and increased emphasis on installing interior insulation solutions.

Over the past few years, green building materials have been widely utilized in construction as they reduce environmental impacts associated with installation, transportation, fabrication, processing, disposal and recycling.

North America owns a significant share of the green building material market. Asia Pacific and Latin America are also seeing increased demand for green materials.

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California Cascade Building Materials Established in 1974, California Cascade has grown to become one of the largest and most trusted distributors in the building industry.

We offer a huge inventory of materials available at substantially competitive prices along with a team of experienced experts, ready to get you what you need.

We have treating facilities in Junction City, OR, Woodland, CA and two in Fontana, CA along with our distribution and manufacturing facility in Sacramento, CA. With more than 20 trucks in our fleet, California Cascade delivers value to your business with prompt, economical and timely delivery. Rail spurs are available at all locations to minimize shipping costs for large projects, will call pickup is available at all locations.

Our reputation has been built upon the success of our customers and we look forward to sharing our years of experience with you.

800-339-6480 • californiacascade.com

HIXSON LUMBER COMPANY

WESTLAKE ACE ADDING NEW LOCATION

Westlake Ace Hardware has signed a lease agreement to open a new store in Pleasant Hill, Ca., at the former site of Bill’s Ace Hardware. It will be Westlake’s 13th location in California.

Renovations to the space will begin in late this summer, with a tentative soft opening in late October.

The store will feature more than 12,000 sq. ft. of retail space.

“We are excited to show our new customers in Pleasant Hill how we live the Ace Helpful Promise every day through reliable service, helpful advice, and the products they need to get their projects done right,” said Joe Jeffries, president and CEO of Westlake Ace Hardware. “Pleasant Hill is a strong community, and we look forward to becoming part of it as a friend, a trusted neighbor, and an employer.”

In addition to offering such services as key cutting and automotive key fob replacement, a propane tank exchange, knife sharpening, Ace Hardware of Pleasant Hill will sell lawn and garden supplies, fasteners, tools, plumbing and electrical supplies.

It will also feature several specialty departments and store-within-a-store concepts, selling such brands as Milwaukee, DeWalt and Craftsman power tools; Benjamin Moore and Magnolia Home by Joanna Gaines paints; Stihl, Ego and Milwaukee outdoor power equipment; Weber, Traeger and Big Green Egg grills and accessories; Scotts lawn care products; Solo Stove firepits; Yeti coolers and accessories; and live plants and outdoor living supplies.

KITCHENS OPT FOR NEW MATERIAL CHOICES

Kitchen remodeling remains hot, with material preferences changing fast for cabinets, countertops and especially flooring, according to Home Innovation Research Labs’ 2022 Consumer Practices Surveys.

Luxury Vinyl Tile or Plank surpassed wood and ceramic flooring in the past few years in its meteoric rise to 25% of all new kitchen flooring in U.S. households. The only other flooring category on the rise in the kitchen was vinyl tile, invigorated by the success of Luxury Vinyl and the other new options available.

For countertops, quartz continues to gain at the expense of once-dominant granite, each now with equal 25% shares. Marble also gained, but laminate and acrylic solid surface continued to lose share.

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NEIMAN MAKES CUTS AT BLACK HILLS MILLS

Citing insufficient timber supply, Neiman Enterprises has cut back hours at both of its Black Hills sawmills— eliminating a shift in Hulett, Wy., and trimming hours in Spearfish, S.D. Neiman president Jim Neiman said, “While we may not agree with the reduction in timber harvest that led to these curtailments, we are committed to our partnerships with all stakeholders, including the local, regional and national levels of the U.S. Forest Service, and will continue to work side-by-side with them to maintain the health of the Black Hills National Forest.”

The company continues to seek enthusiastic partnerships with policymakers and public land managers to accomplish long-term forest health solutions that engage the industry, minimize community hazards, and support the multiple-use goals of the Black Hills National Forests.

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VIEWRAIL BUYING SIMMONS STAIRWAYS

Viewrail, Goshen, In., has agreed to acquire stairway manufacturer Simmons Stairways, San Jose, Ca. Trent Jacobs, Viewrail’s director of California business development, will run the company until the end of the year, at which time all new business will transfer to Viewrail.

Len Morris, CEO of Viewrail, called the acquisition “a fantastic opportunity to bring Viewrail’s design ability and manufacturing power to the California region.”

“It seemed like a good fit,” said Howard Simmons, current owner of Simmons Stairways, Inc. “Viewrail has the product and technology, and I am in a great market with years of experience on the West Coast.”

Morris added, “This will help us tremendously as we work towards having a local presence in regions all over the country, so that our lead times and installation options are universal to every customer’s experience.”

building-products.com

------------| NEW PRODUCTS

STOP LEDGER BOARD MOISTURE

PAINTER’S TOOL BOX

Trex Seal Ledger Tape is an 11”-wide aluminum-lined butyl tape specifically engineered for use on the ledger board of a deck, combining the best performance features of metal and tape flashing in one easy-to-use product.

Reinforced with an aluminum liner, the 11”-wide tape covers the entire surface of the ledger board and creates a seamless seal over any gaps between the ledger and deck substructure for optimal protection against moisture penetration.

Designed specifically for deck applications, both in its function and size, it has a 5.5” double-release liner that allows installers to bend and set it in place without it flexing back like other flashing tapes.

The Purdy Painter’s Storage Box is a three-tiered interlocking system designed to keep professional painters organized and productive, and able to quickly transport their tools from jobsites.

Each box features dedicated space for housing painting tools, which includes a bin for wet brushes or roller covers up to 18”, hanger bars for organizing paintbrushes, and even room for stowing two extension poles.

The lid stays open at a 90° degree angle for quick access to tools. The top lid also features the profiles of paint can bases in differing sizes, to hold them in place.

Between jobsites, the storage boxes stack easily, lock securely in place, and are effortless to move with two large, all-terrain 9” wheels that are replaceable and an integrated, telescopic handle.

TREXSEAL.COM (800) 289-8739

PURDY.COM (800) 547-0780

TOP-NOTCH BELT SANDER

MOSO North America has added double-fluted and triple-fluted siding to its X-treme collection.

Providing a fluted panel look for exterior cladding or soffit, the 6’-long, 6”-wide boards are end-matched for faster installation and less waste. MOSO bamboo X-treme cladding uses the same clips as the decking, keeping hardware cost to a minimum.

It boasts a Class A fire rating and a 25-year warranty against rot and decay and is WUI listed in California.

Milwaukee Tool’s new M18 FUEL Belt Sander offers professional carpenters and remodelers the most powerful, and versatile cordless belt sander to assist in the jobsite material removal process.

Generating 8 amps of corded power, the tool supplies a faster material removal rate with a belt speed range of 700 to 1,3 50 surface ft. per minute. It has been optimized for jobsite applications with a tool-free, adjustable pommel and ergonomic design that allows users to work in confined corners and spaces. Outfitted with a premium multi-layer dust bag and a universal vacuum hose adapter, it offers best-in-class dust collection with over 80% dust collected during use.

MOSO-BAMBOO.COM (855) 343-8444

MILWAUKEETOOL.COM (800) 729-3878

FLUTED BAMBOO SIDING

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MASS TIMBER STRAP

Atlantis Rail Systems has launched a new aluminum top rail for its popular Spectrum cable railing system.

Previously, the Spectrum System included the cable, fittings and posts, and customers supplied their own hardwood top rail.

The Spectrum Top Rail System has a rectangular top rail and small assortment of adaptive fittings to handle most layouts. The system consists of square, 1-1/2”x1-1/2” stainless steel powder-coated posts that can be fascia- or surface-mounted and an extruded aluminum 1-5/8”x3 1/2” top rail. The top rail is offered in standard lengths of 4’, 6’ and 8’. Aluminum top rail and fittings are powder-coated in the standard and special Spectrum colors.

Simpson Strong-Tie has introduced the MTWS mass timber washer strap as a versatile, off-the-shelf, load-tested option for a variety of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panel-to-panel and panel-to-steel connections in mass timber construction.

Mass timber projects can utilize a hybrid of structural materials, and often require strap and holdown connections with two to three times the capacity of light-frame connections.

The new washer strap is engineered for the high strength and stiffness required by these higher-load applications, while using 10% to 20% fewer fasteners, providing productivity and efficiency on the jobsite and eliminating the need for custom fabrication of steel connector straps.

The strap provides a pre-engineered, tested solution to replace expensive, shop-fabricated steel plates while providing maximum versatility on the jobsite.

ATLANTISRAIL.COM (508) 732-9191

STRONGTIE.COM/MASSTIMBER (800) 999-5099

CABLE RAILING TOP RAIL

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buildings and an outdoor garden center. The south building has 16,500 sq. ft. with more traditional hardware department including paint, plumbing, electrical, lawn and garden in addition to product assortments specific to the local community. The north building has 12,000 sq. ft. of retail space dedicated to outdoor living products including grills and patio furniture.

The north building also features a small engine repair shop and lumber department.

It also creates fun and unique experiences that engage the DARKER SCREWS CENTRAL VALLEY hardware store was honored for being one of Ace Hardware’s Coolest Hardware community, from in-store events Stores of 2021.

SPAX Powerlags engineered fasteners are getting a GET ORGANIZED such as grill demo days, kid craft colorful new look this season. days, and anfrom annual “Party on the Central California Store Toasted for Its Coolness The fasteners will transition green to a black Utilizing the same locking technology across the Patio” customer appreciation coat, based on customers’ preference for black night to system,Ace the Hardware, Ryobi Link Modular canstore be providestop Strand Escalon,Storage Ca., System operated a shopping to participating provide an to attractive appearance in andthe to “Christmas match with on customized to meet your organizational needs from the has been honored by Ace Hardware experience that is locally relevant Main” downtown light parade. other products. workshop to the Rails arethe designed for Corp. as one ofworkplace.

2021’s Wall Coolest communities they serve.

The team The Swanson family takes pride in A High Corrosion Resistance coating adds a double easy installation and expandability in mind.

Hardware Stores. at Strand Ace Hardware embodies the barrier. First platedsupporting with a zinclocal base organizations coat, then finished in their Components include Wall Rails, 7-Piece Wall Storage The 10th annual designation unique and helpful spiritwith thata makes durable topcommunity coat, the structural wood screws Kit, Single and Double Organizer Bins, seven differincluding the Boy Scouts, recognizes that J, differentiate Ace great.” are engineered, tested and inspected to hold up to the ent hooksstores (Reversible Utility, Large Multi-purpose, FFA, the high school football team, their offerings, and culture to Originally the Strand harshest conditions.

Bike, Power services Tool, Double Hook, Standard Hook Set), founded by the Sportsman Club, and the Garden meet the needs of their community.

Brothersandin 1946, Strand Ace are approved for exterior use, including The fasteners three different shelves (40V Battery, Hanging Joy Community Garden. Strand also “With more than Acedifferent Hardware bylumber, the and treated accommodate nominal and rough Tool Organizer Shelf),5,400 and two holderswas purchased participates in Ace Children’s Miracle locations around the world, no two Swanson Family in 1975 and has lumber sizes.

(Screwdriver and One+ Tool Holder).

Network events throughout the year. stores are the same,” said John Kittell, grown from a 2,500 sq. ft. building to The other winning store for 2021 SPAX.US RYOBITOOLS.COM vice president, retail operations & more than 28,500 sq. ft. of retail space was Gemmen’s Home & Hardware, (888) 222-7729 (800) 525-2579 new business, Ace Hardware Corp. to better serve the Escalon community.

Hudsonville, Mi. “Each independently owned and Strand currently consists of two

NORTH IDAHO POST AND POLE We are the manufacturer of Round Wood

• Lathed house logs manufactured on site from 8” up to 24”x32’ (depending on length) • Treated or Untreated is available | Smooth finish or Hand peel available • Doweled Rail Fencing, two, three and four rail | 8’ or 10’ Doweled End Rails • Handrail – Custom Manufactured to our customers specs-Post Caps • Doweled Post and Rails in many sizes treated or untreated • Jump Rails in 3 ½” and 4” – lengths of 10’ and 12’ 208-772-3942 • 1-800-828-7359 nippbvc@msn.com • www.northidahopostandpole.com

34 n -products The Merchant building .com Magazine

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Building-Products.com the merchant magazine •

LIGHT RAIL Feeney’s next generation of its DesignRail LED Rail Lighting Kit simplifies installation and delivers added versatility, while also offering a longer product warranty.

Developed to install easily into DesignRail top or bottom rails without special tools, the kit now accommodates a single, continuous 55-ft. run and is field trimmable for optimal flexibility, with 4” cut lines for convenient reference.

The durable 24V wet location strip lights attach to the railing surface using integrated highperformance, double-sided foam (VHB) tape for carefree installation. Waterproof crimp fittings provide protection from the elements, while plugand-play connectors facilitate quick linking of lights and components.

FEENEYINC.COM (800) 888-2418

NEUTRAL COLOR CABINETS

FRAMELESS GLASS WINDSCREEN Ocula, Trex Commercial’s new glass windscreen system, offers optimal versatility with its post-free, clamp-supported design.

The system is designed to divert wind while elevating architectural aesthetics. It comes in three standard heights: guardrail (43”), pool surround (48”), and balcony divider (60”), plus custom heights and multiple top cap and handrail options.

The stainless steel clamps can be paired with view-optimizing clear glass for a barely-there look, or frosted or fritted glass for more privacy.

TREXCOMMERCIAL.COM (800) 289-8739

FINE TO THE FINISH

Wolf Home Products has released a third finish option—Carbon SmartShield—in its contemporary cabinet style line, Wolf Endeavor.

The new finish rounds out a neutral palette with a dark grey option, providing a dark, clean shade that is not as saturated as black and contrasts beautifully with lighter room elements.

Endeavor cabinets are frameless with full access and full overlay styling. The modern, shaker-style door also comes in Polar SmartShield and Sterling SmartShield.

Milwaukee Tool’s new M18 Orbital 1/4” Sheet Sander offers users the lowest vibration and best dust collection in its class, while optimizing for performance and productivity on the jobsite.

The tool is designed to replace corded sander performance with variable speeds ranging from 11,000 to 13 ,000 orbits per minute, and stain grade orbital finish. Its durable dust bag and universal hose adaptor decrease clean-up time, and its twostep clamp system allows for quick and easy sandpaper changes.

WOLFHOMEPRODUCTS.COM (800) 388-9653

MILWAUKEETOOL.COM (800) 729-3878

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POWER DRIVE

DaVinci Roofscapes has introduced a new single-width composite slate roofing tile. Province Slate, a 12”-wide tile with a fixed 8” exposure evokes a historical nature with authentic natural slate appeal.

Modeled after actual slate, the tiles have a natural, non-repeating beauty that complements a variety of home styles. The durable slate tiles resist severe weather, high winds, insects, algae and fungus growth.

Senco’s new pneumatic framing nailer delivers 18% more driving force, exceptional durability, and advanced ergonomics.

Made in the USA, the FN91T1 was designed to sink nails all day long and survive the toughest jobsites without causing undue fatigue to the user. The nailer drives paper-collated, 34° clippedhead and offset-round-head nails from 2” to 3-1/2” in length.

Weighing 8.75 lbs. and featuring a durable magnesium magazine and a body and belt hook made from heavy-duty aluminum, the tool was built to take abuse.

DAVINCIROOFSCAPES.COM (8OO) 328-4624

SENCO.COM (888) 543-4596

SLATE-LOOK ROOFING VIBRANT STAINS Nova USA Wood Products has enhanced the color retention of its ExoShield Wood Stains by 3 0% and improved the formulations of its Walnut and Mahogany ExoShield colors.

Fewer red pigments produce a richer medium-brown Walnut with red undertones, and a subtler, more natural-looking Mahogany.

Polymerized oil resins have also been added, as well as the highest amount of UV blockers possible.

NOVAUSAWOOD.COM (503) 419-6407

Ultra-Resistant MDF

DeWalt’s new Xtreme 12V MAX* 5-3/8” Circular Saw (DCS512B) delivers powerful and accurate cutting performance across a wide range of materials.

Features include a built-in rafter hook for convenient storage on the jobsite, an electric brake that quickly stops the blade after the trigger is released, an LED light for increased visibility and cut accuracy, and optional dust collection to minimize dust during cutting.

A built-in rafter hook allows for convenient storage on the jobsite.

Roseburg Forest Products’ new Armorite Exterior MDF is a no-added formaldehyde MDF panel treated with a proprietary biocide to resist moisture, rot, decay and insects, including Formosan termites.

Engineered for machinability, it reportedly provides the best performance in the market for profiling, cutting and custom designs. It is manufactured from western softwoods to provide superior strength with less weight, ensuring easy nailing, machining and finishing. ® Fabricators will appreciate all the design flexibility they are accustomed to with interior MDF panels, but with the added benefit of withstanding the rigors of exterior environments, high moisture, and humidity.

n DEWALT.COM (800) 433-9258

n ROSEBURG.COM (800) 245-1115

Sub-Compact Cutting

WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTOR OF TREATED LUMBER & PLWOOD, INCLUDING:

EWP BIG TIMBERS/LONG LENGTHS DISTRESSED WOOD

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D-BLAZE FIRE RETARDANT TREATED WOOD FOR FIRE RATED ASSEMBLES & INTERIOR APPLICATIONS UL FR-S Classified Plywood & Lumber Building Code Compliant under ICC-ESR 2645 California CSFM BML Listings for D-Blaze Plywood and Lumber Low Smoke and Flame Development. No VOC’s of Formaldehyde City of Los Angeles Research Report: RR 24502 ACQ .40-TREATED DOUGLAS FIR 2X4 -2X12 (8’ TO 20’) 2X14 (16 TO 20 & 24) 3X4 - 3X12 (8’ TO 20’) 4X4 - 4X12 (8’ TO 20’) 4X14 (16’ TO 20’ & 24’) 6X6 - 6X12 (8’ TO 20’ & 24’) BORATE-TREATED DF 2X4 - 2X6 (8’ TO 20’)

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Larger pieces available depending on current inventory Custom Treating Available 50

THE FINEST TIMBERS n The Merchant Magazine n August 2021AVAILABLE, DELIVERED TO CUSTOMERS

Merchant 8-21_Layout.indd 50

ACCURATELY, HONESTLY & ON TIME.

building-products.com

Building-Products.com

7/28/2021 1:02:49 PM

SANTA FE SPRINGS, CA WWW.HUFFLUMBER.NET (800) 347-4833

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------------| CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE

------------| IN MEMORIAM

Rates: $1.20 per word (25 word minimum). Phone number counts as 1 word, address as 6. Centered copy/headline, $9 per line. Border, $9. Column inch rate: $65 per inch.

Deadline: 10th of the previous month. Questions? Call (714) 486-2735.

Jill Ann Fisher, credit manager for Idaho Timber, Boise, Id., passed away July 9 at the age of 55.

A graduate of Boise State, she had been with Idaho Timber since 2000.

HELP WANTED

Is this your copy?

Come join a growing environmentally sustainable, vertically integrated Lumber Company and be a part of rehabilitation of the Ponderosa Pine Forests of Arizona while reducing the fire danger through the removal of combustible forest floor debris.

Currently hiring and training for Forestry, Sawmill, Planer Mill and Engineered Wood Plant Bellemont, Arizona.

We have open positions at Millwright, Electricians, Molder, Fingerjoint, Dry kiln Operators. Lumber Graders.

Heavy Duty Diesel Mechanic and Forestry Operators.

Compensation (DOE) Please send resumes to Kandace.Johnson@nlfpaz.com

The Merchant is available on a qualified requestor basis to senior management of U.S.based dealers and distributors specializing in lumber and building materials, and to others at the rate of $22 per year.

Subscribe Now at

Building-Products.com/subscribe

Robert James “Bob” Clark, 85, longtime salesman with Vancouver Plywood, Albany, Or., died June 21 after an 18-year struggle with Parkinson’s disease.

After receiving a forest products degree from Oregon State University, he became a wholesale lumber salesman for Warnock Sales, Menlo Park, Ca. While working for Vancouver Plywood, Vancouver, Wa., he earned his MBA from the University of Portland.

Bob later purchased a beverage distributorship, Dumont Distributing, Corvallis, Or., retiring in 2002.

Donald J. “Don” Farrelly, 83, former comptroller for North Pacific Lumber Co., Portland, Or., died March 31 after a lengthy illness.

------------| DATE BOOK Listings are often submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with sponsor before making plans to attend.

Ace Hardware – Aug. 15-17, fall convention, McCormick Place, Chicago, Il.; www.acehardware.com.

Western Hardwood Association – Aug. 17-19, annual convention, Chinook Winds Casino Resort, Lincoln City, Or.; www. westernhardwood.com.

Composite Panel Association – Sept. 11-13, fall meeting, Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth, Montreal, Quebec; www.compositepanel.org.

True Value Co. – Sept. 15-18, Fall Reunion show, Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Co.; www.truevaluecompany.com.

International Conference on Timber Engineering & Wood Science – Sept. 16-17, online conference; www.waset.org.

LMC – Sept. 20-23, Leadership Summit, Sheraton Downtown Phoenix, Phoenix, Az.; www.lmc.net.

West Coast Lumber & Building Material Association – Aug. 18, Southern California golf tournament, Black Gold Golf Club, Yorba Linda, Ca.; www.lumberassociation.org.

Pacific Northwest Association of Rail Shippers – Sept. 21-22, fall meeting, Seattle Marriott Waterfront Hotel, Seattle, Wa.; www. pnrailshippers.com.

Western Building Material Association – Aug. 19, mid-year board meetings, Cheney Stadium, Tacoma, Wa.; www.wbma.org.

National Hardwood Lumber Association – Sept. 21-23, annual convention & exhibit showcase, Huntington Convention Center, Cleveland, Oh.; www.nhla.com.

The Hardware Conference – Aug. 19-21, Marco Island, Fl.; www. thehardwareconference.com.

Mountain States Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association – Aug. 26, clay shoot, Brighton, Co.; www.mslbmda.org.

National Hardwood Lumber Association – Sept. 7-9, introduction to grading hardwood, Memphis, Tn.; www.nhla.com.

Auburn Fall Home Show – Sept. 23-25, Gold Country Fairgrounds & Event Center, Auburn, Ca.; www.auburnhomeshows.com.

Colorado Fall Home Show – Sept. 24, Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Co.; www.coloradogardenfoundation.org.

BC Wood – Sept. 8-10, Global Buyers Mission, Whistler, B.C.; www. bcwood.com.

Western Roofing Expo – Sept. 24-26, presented by Western States Roofing Contractors Association, Paris Hotel, Las Vegas, Nv.; www. westernroofingexpo.com.

Horizon Distribution – Sept. 9-11, expo, Yakima Convention Center & Sundome, Yakima, Wa.; www.hdishow.com.

American Wood Protection Association – Sept. 25-29, technical committee meetings, Omni Hotel, Providence, R.I.; awpa.com.

Do it Best – Sept. 9-12, fall market, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, In.; www.doitbestcorp.com.

Fastmarkets – Sept. 27-29, North American forest products conference, Marriott Coronado Island, San Diego, Ca.; www.fastmarkets.com.

San Diego Fall Home Show – Sept. 10-11, San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, Ca.; www.homeshowsandiego.com.

Timber Processing & Energy Expo – Sept. 28-30, Portland Exposition Center, Portland, Or.; www.timberprocessingandenergyexpo.com.

Hoo-Hoo International – Sept. 10-13, 130th annual convention, Sacramento, Ca.; www.hoohoo.org.

Canyon County Fall Home Show – Sept. 30-Oct. 2, Ford Idaho Center, Nampa, Id.; www.canyoncountyfallhomeshow.com.

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The Logical Solution TP Logistics and TP Trucking have provided quality transportation and logistics services with award-winning safety for over 50 years.

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526 Media Group, Publisher 526 Media Group, Publisher

Centennial Centennial Special Special Issue Issue

THE POSSIBILITIES KEEP GROWING:

REDWOOD Nature’s majestic pillars. dwood iis so on ne o off tth he s sttrongest a an nd ffa as t e s t g grrowing s so oftwood spe spec cies. It thrives in Re Red some of the most productive timberlands in the world. Redwood is known for its timeless durability without the use of chemicals. Due to its flawless formation, there has never been a Redwood recall. There is a grade of Redwood for every application, every budget, and every customer.

“Growing beyond measure.”

Call or visit us today. Our family of Redwood timberland owners will continue to be your reputable and reliable source of Redwood.

Call us at 707.894.4241 Visit us at buyRedwood.com

526 Media Group, Publisher

Celebrating 100 Years of The Merchant Magazine

4

1920s

26

1950s

5

The First Editorial

27

Advent of Lumber Wrap

6

Man Behind The Merchant: Jack Dionne

28

1960s

8

Mr. Pip and Mr. Pep

29

Lumber Giant: A.D. Bell

10

The Fundamentals of Advertising

30

Middle Ages: David Cutler

11

The Mission

33

1970s

12

Women in the Industry

34

Inside Mungus-Fungus FP

14

Merchandising in the 1920s

36

Changing the Industry with LP

15

1930s

38

1980s

16

The Depression Deepens

39

Introducing BPD

17

The Royal Order of Hairy-Chested Men

41

1990s

18

Side by Side with Hoo-Hoo

42

Part of a Larger Story

20

1940s

45

2000s/2010s

22

Sabotage!

46

Totally Random: Alan Oakes

23

Wartime Conditions in the LBM Industry

48

Congratulations

24

Post-War Construction Boom

49

Thank You: David Koenig

A3

1920s The 1920s were prosperous times for many in the West, and the lumber industry was no exception. Powered by a robust California housing market, lumber production reached higher and higher levels.

But one skill the lumber industry has typically lacked is self promotion. That, though, was no problem for the charismatic Jack Dionne. For nine years he published The Gulf Coast Lumberman from Houston, Tx., providing lumber merchants with news, features, and pep talks layered with homespun humor. He soon recognized the need for a similar publication for lumber dealers in the booming markets of California. In the first months, he opened offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland. Dionne appointed S.O. Krantz, longtime writer for The Oregonian and for the last two years editor of The Gulf Coast Lumberman, as the first managing editor of The California Lumber Merchant.

“The Merchant” distributed its first biweekly issue on July 1, 1922. The publication, like the lumber industry itself, enjoyed fast growth through the ’20s. Supply and demand often were checked only by distribution.

Times, some say, grew too prosperous. Early in 1928, the stock market began a meteoric rise, providing big, quick profits that captured the attention, imaginations and incomes of millions. So many people playing the stock market on margin and retiring completely from other investment activities put a drag on the lumber business. Dionne saw the stock craze as gambling and in the fall of 1929, commended those who put their savings in bonds: “It means a stout disposition to save rather than waste, and in time those bonds can be used to buy homes.”

Then came the crash. “The recession of recent weeks had to come,” Dionne wrote. “It isn’t the law of economics. It’s simply the law of gravity.”

He warned a national house cleaning would be painful, but was unavoidable. Noted Dionne, on Dec. 1, 1929: “The liquidation of the stock market continues. The world watches, agape, at the thing that is happening. And naturally, while the world watches, the world does not build.”

Our first anniversary July 1, 1923

Our first issue July 1, 1922, Vol. 1, No. 1

Birthday greetings from sister publication The Gulf Coast Lumberman – June 15, 1923 A4

Publisher Jack Dionne’s first editorial – July 1, 192

The Point of Contact

By Jack Dionne

The other day I went into a place of business to call on its manager. The place was modern, interesting, attractive. Signs of industry were everywhere.

The first impression was splendid.

At the door sat a young woman with an “Information” sign at her elbow. She looked me over as I asked for the High Mogul. There was no welcome in her glance. When assured that the head of the house was really the person I wanted to see, she frowned with emphasis, slapped the phone attachment over her head, pushed a button, waited a few moments, pulled the headpeace off, flung it from her with disdain, turned her back to renew her desk work, and from the corner of her mouth came the information, grudgingly given, “He’s not in.”

No more. Not a word as to where he was, when he would be in, wouldn’t I see someone else, what could they do for me, or a thing. Just plain, frank discourtesy.

I was amused. l had seen the type before. And as I wondered how little the firm must think of the art of salesmanship to expose its callers to so rude a “point of contact’’ with the firm, the manager came in. He was courteous, business-like, friendly all right. And I wished that I knew him well enough to have uttered before leaving, a few thoughts on salesmanship, with the “point of contact” as a text.

Mr. Business Man, regardless of how large or how small your business may be, what line you are in, or what you are trying to accomplish, listen to this: Study the point of contact between your business and your callers.

Don’t overlook that point. The person who meets your callers first is one of the most important persons in your entire organization. If you will stop to think, you will quickly realize the high value of first impressions; and the first impression your business gives the caller is through the first person who addresses him.

And the more your success depends

upon its standing with the public, the more necessary is it that the right person form your “point of contact.”

In the modern building store, for in-

A5

stance, the man who meets the trade at the door is decidedly more able to help and hurt the concern, than is the manager in the back office. MUCH more so.

Think it over. Is the person who enters your place of business—regardless of where or what it is—smart enough to make the caller see that he is welcome, and to put him at his ease?

Your “point of contact” should have just one thing in view: to make the caller feel that he is a guest in your place.

It makes no difference whether he is a big prospective client, or just a bill collector. He should be treated the same way.

And if your “point of contact” makes the caller glad that he came, he has rendered your business a valuable service.

Lumberman-turned-author Gage McKinney, a frequent Merchant contributor during the 1980s, returns with insight into our founder

The man behind The Merchant

By Gage McKinney

I heard the life story of The Mer-

chant founder Jack Dionne from three gray-haired women who couldn’t stop laughing.

On a clear April day 40 years ago I had lunch with Jack’s three daughters in a Houston high-rise. Each story they told prompted another story.

“Mother sent me to the market when I was a young girl,” one of them said.

“In the next aisle, I heard one of our neighbors tell another neighbor: ‘I saw Jack Dionne at the country club last night—drunk again!’”

After another fit of laughter, the three let me in on the joke. Jack was a teetotaler and never under the influence of anything stronger than his own ebullience. He brought any room to life.

Jack Dionne used the pages of The Merchant to crosspromote his flagship Southern publication, The Gulf Coast Lumberman – Nov. 15, 1922

Jack was born Joseph Cyrille Dionne on November 30, 1881, amid Wisconsin forests. His father, a lumberman from Quebec, supervised timber crews.

His mother, who had taught Greek and Latin at Marquette University, taught Jack to read the Bible. He promised her he would never smoke or drink, and after she died when Jack was 12, the pledge became sacred to her memory.

At 19, Jack worked as a log scaler in a Michigan mill while he sought a career in journalism. He worked for local newspapers. When Jack’s father accepted a job in the piney woods at Groveton, Tx., Jack and his siblings went along to join the southern timber boom. Jack worked as a stringer for the American Lumberman of Chicago and the Southern Lumber & Industrial Review of New Orleans.

Jack adopted southern ways and became a solid Houstonian when he married black-haired Maud Carter Renfro, the pretty granddaughter of a former Texas governor.

In 1913, with capital of $400, Dionne founded his Houston-based lumber journal, The Gulf Coast Lumberman.

As Jack called on lumberyards and sawmills throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, his magazine grew fat with news, features and advertising.

As Jack traveled, carrying news, stories and jokes from one sawmill and one lumberyard to the next, he became identified with the cooperative efforts of lumber dealers through the region.

The Lumbermen’s Association of Texas, which united manufacturers and dealers, elected him an officer. During more than 18 years as secretary, he saw the group grow into the largest trade association in Texas.

Jack also served as charter secretary of the Texas Forestry Association, the conservation group responsible for creA6

ating a department of forestry in Texas.

His magazine was the association’s official organ.

With his outgoing manner, booming voice and good humor, Jack took the podium at gatherings of lumber associations, the lumber fraternity called Hoo Hoo, Chambers of Commerce, Rotary Clubs, and business gatherings.

Newspapers began identifying him as a “publisher, humorist and after dinner speaker.” He cracked political jokes and told soldiers’ stories and backwoods tall tales.

Capitalizing on Jack’s personality, and giving his wit a wider audience, 1,500 lumber dealers sponsored the Friendly Builders radio program, originating in Dallas and broadcast through stations across Texas and Oklahoma.

Jack was the host.

Not even laughter, though, is always pure. Jack told African American dialect stories, some depicting the wisdom of rural folk and some demeaning Black people. He collected these into a small 1932 book of stories at which “the people of the South have laughed in past generations.” He regrettably didn’t see the harm as people do today.

As his magazine prospered, and he became more widely known, Jack began accepting speaking invitations in California, especially in the summer when he and his family welcomed an escape from Houston’s humidity and heat.

As he traveled through California, lumber dealers urged him to start a West Coast magazine. The temperate California climate may have been all the persuasion he needed.

The California Lumber Merchant distributed its first issue from Los Angeles, dated July 1, 1922. Under the headline, “What the California Lumber Merchant can do for California,” the magazine promised to “wield a powerful influence for good” on the industry.

By communicating news and ideas to every branch of lumbering, the magazine promised to encourage cooperation, promote better marketing and instill enthusiasm. In the spirit of Jack Dionne, the magazine pledged to help overcome “the painful modesty that seems to mark the gentle lumber dealer for its own.”

Dionne employed a staff in California and every summer he headed west with his wife and three daughters.

When he wanted to extend his magazine’s coverage into the Northwest, the family spent summers in Portland and Seattle. More commonly, they summered in Hollywood.

The Dionne family loved Hollywood in the 1920s, where oranges grew and stars frequented the shops and cafes of Hollywood Boulevard. Jack met movie idols like Clark Gable and comedians like Jimmy Durante and his own name appeared in Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood gossip column.

On Friday mornings, Jack played golf with his young, fabulously wealthy friend from Houston, Howard Hughes.

He extended his friendships through his memberships in the Masters’ Club of Hollywood and the Bohemian Club of San Francisco.

Then in the Great Depression, Jack’s lumber journals suffered. Determined to keep both magazines afloat, even as his advertisers were going under, Dionne stopped taking a salary. While still shouldering editorial work for both journals, he supported his family as a lobbyist for Houston oil firms. His magazines grew thinner and thinner but both survived until better times.

Jack’s family felt the pinch but survived the lean years with uninterrupted laughter. Jack’s daughters remembered playing cards for pots of matchsticks.

Movies were cheap and radio was free.

When a building boom followed World

PUBLISHER Jack Dionne (left) accepts a special award of recognizing his contributions to the industry from the head of the Southern California Retail Lumber Association during the group’s annual meeting on April 24, 1947. The gold plaque still hangs proudly in our offices, 75 years later.

War II, the magazines enjoyed more fatted years.

Throughout his career, Jack pounded out copy on a battered typewriter, working amid office noise with complete concentration. During his 50 years as editor-publisher, he most enjoyed writing two columns, “Fun, Facts and Philosophy” and “Vagabond Editorials.”

In December he sometimes repeated the story of the child in the manger from the gospel of Luke, the man Jack looked to as the patron of storytellers and his own ideal.

Jack eventually sold the magazines to others who continued in the spirit he inaugurated. He died in Houston in 1966. For years after he had left his typewriter and desk, his articles and

stories were reprinted as reminders of simpler times.

Jack punctuated life with humor, as I learned over lunch with the three daughters who adored him and who couldn’t stop laughing. For the 60th anniversary of this magazine, I wrote Jack’s story.

It was a good story. But 40 years ago, I didn’t say enough about the laughter.

Gage McKinney, a retired hardwood lumberman, lives in the California Gold Country. His most recent book is Gold Mining Genius: A Life of George Starr (Comstock Bonanza Press), the man who made millions for the Empire Mine in Grass Valley.

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SPECIAL QUOTES A7

“Mr. Pip and Mr. Pep,” a regular feature through the 1920s, contrasted a dealer who was set in his ways vs. one more receptive to modern merchandising techniques – Feb. 15, 1925

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Dionne preaches on the necessity of advertising – July 1, 1922

The fundamentals of advertising

By Jack Dionne

Since every issue of The California Lumber Merchant will carry a message to the retail lumbermen of California concerning the various fundamentals that go to make up what is called Modern Merchandising, it may be wise to outline in advance these subjects.

We hold that the primary job of the Modern Building Merchant is to do the building thinking for his community. Therefore we will discuss the various phases of building thinking, or commercial imagination, as it is frequently called.

We believe that a business is frequently judged by its general appearance, and that much of its effectiveness in public service depends upon its equipment. Therefore we will have much to say about the equipment of the lumber dealer.

He must do their planning for them, furnish them with their building plans of the most practical, attractive and satisfactory character. Therefore we will discuss the use of plans and plan service.

He must properly display his goods to demonstrate their uses, because people buy building materials not to have them, but because of what they will build and do. So we will discuss display and service departments for retailers.

We believe that a dealer cannot properly serve his trade unless he knows his trade, personally and inti­mately. Therefore we will discuss the personal equation in business, the art of making friends, and the value of friendship ability in selling building material.

We know a dealer cannot properly supply his trade with their building needs until he knows what those needs are.

Therefore, we will discuss prospect lists by which the retailer keeps track of the necessities of his selling territory.

If a merchant has the ability, and the equipment, and knows his people and their building needs, there is another very powerful requirement. He must advise them of his willingness and ability and equipment for supplying those needs. Therefore we will discuss retail dealer publicity and advertising.

And when he has them all, he has still to make the connecting link between necessity and desire on one hand, and fulfillment on the other. Therefore we will discuss salesmanship—the most interesting subject on earth next to the study of God and Man. We believe that the real business of the retail lumber dealer is to intelligently and forcefully father the building business in this: that it is his job to see that every family in that community, together with their possessions, are housed in the most suitable and satisfactory way possible.

So we will discuss every phase of this opportunity.

It is a wonderful study, this business of supplying the building needs and the homes of this nation, and it is a business that doesn’t “just happen.” It has to be planned and executed, and its success depends upon the quality and quantity of the planning and the execution.

The building merchant is either one of two things: He is either the greatest blessing his community knows in a business way, or he is a great detriment to that community.

And the ways and means by which he shall better serve his community, his business, and his industry, are the things that shall be thoroughly investigated and discussed in these columns in every issue from now on.

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Dionne explains why he’s coming to California – July 1, 1922

We’re saying “howdy”

By Jack Dionne

It is with something of a feeling of humility that we offer a merchandising publication to the lumber trade of a com­monwealth that has done more to sell the world on the direct, practical value of advertising and merchandising than has any other spot on God’s footstool. Yet the fact that California has made the business world bow down and worship at the shrine of intensified publicity as a creator of demand, is one of the powerful and fundamental impulses that has urged us to create this magazine.

In May 1921, the writer came to California as the guest of the Western Retail Lumbermen’s Association and talked to a splendid gathering at Fresno on the subject of “Modern Merchandising for the Lumber Dealer.” The intense interest manifested in the subject, and the keen aliveness of the dealers to the problems of better serving of their trade, made a profound impression. Just as for several years powerful lumbermen have been urging us to install a lumber journal in the Pacific Northwest, to preach the Gospel of creating business to that territory, so for the past year good friends in California have been talking to us about a California paper.

We debated the matter with ourselves for months. One day we picked up a copy of The Ladies’ Home Journal, and

stared at a page of color advertising. I recalled the philosophy of the old preacher, who said, “I find that when I ask the Lord to send me a turkey, I don’t get it; but when I ask the Lord to send me out after a turkey, I get it.” That profound philosophy is something that the lumber industry of this nation has been very slow to learn.

More than nine years ago we began preaching to the lumber industry the Gospel of Merchandising. At that time not a single voice was being raised in the field of journalism to induce the lumberman to create business. Since that time a great change has taken place.

We believe that it is just as necessary to create markets for lumber, as it is to make lumber. We believe that the more ways we show people for using building materials, and the more skillfully and im­pressively we bring those things to their attention, the more of these materials they will buy. And we believe that the retail lumberman is the custodian of a great trust. That his position is in reality a stewardship, so great are his possibilities for good in his community. And we delight to declare that a great number of retailers the country over are very much alive to the bigness of their profession, and enthusiastic in their efforts to improve their service.

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With women often overlooked in the lumber industry—including being excluded from membership in Hoo-Hoo, The Merchant proposed improving their standing from Issue #1 – July 1, 1922

THE FIRST National Hoo-Hoo-Ette Club would not be formed until 1951 and its first convention held until 1963—two months after the annual “Bosses Night,” pictured above at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

Why not a national organization of retail lumberwomen?

By Miss Alberta Ruth Brey, VP, The Brey-Wright Lumber Co., Porterville, Ca.

Solomon, the wise man of Biblical times, is credited with having said, “There is nothing new under the Sun.” But listen, Oh! ye wise men, lesser wise, and just folks. We think there is something new, but if after reading this arti­cle, any of you decide that there has been in the annals of the history of the world, at some time or other, anything of this kind, please rush information to us immediately. We may need it for ideas and for details.

Of course, when there is a disturbance, or really some­ thing different, you all know there must be something feminine at the bottom of it. Well, since you all have guessed it, we admit it. There are hundreds of us working in lumbermen’s offices here in the United States. It has been suggested by a member of the National Builders Bureau that we organize and form a National Organization of Women in the Retail Lumber Business.

That may sound like a large order to you, but nevertheless, it has been meeting with much approval from everyone to whom it has been suggested. You see, women are the chief factors in making the home. Men are necessary without doubt, but the woman is the one who has always had the dream of a home. From her childhood a girl is taught the

great thing in life is a home of her own. In fact her playthings are mostly dolls and playhouses, etc., everything that deals with the home. Helping mother do the dishes, while son goes in the wood and does the outside chores, his training is along altogether different lines. A man may build a house, ever so beautiful. To make it a home, it takes a woman.

So knowing our sisters’ feelings that have children and something to build a home for, we want to help them out. We want to spread the gospel of Homes, and Better Homes, to make the United States the best place in the world in which to live, as it is anyway, but just a little better than it is now. We want to give the children of the present gen­eration, and the generations to come, that will make or break this grand old country of ours, a chance. Through combined effort with an organization of this kind, we can systematically approach the women’s clubs, the parent-teachers associations, the literary clubs, throughout the U.S., and sell more homes in one year than all the newspaper advertising can sell in 10.

Another thing we need is to get together. We need to compare ideas and suggestions. We need to have some definite plans and carry them out. In other words com­bine our efforts and make our country a place of beautiful homes.

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Just think what a chance for all the young women in the retail lumber business, to get together somewhere in the U.S. once every year, and meet and know each other. Other organizations do it, so can we. Do you know from where I write, our company does not sell lumber any more? By lumber I mean, scantling, underpinnings, rafters and shingles, etc. We sell homes, garages, barns, just as the automobile dealers sell you automobiles. We sell the completed product. The details are all drawn to scale. We show you in our display rooms just how they will look in your home and with a little imagination you can see yourself in that nice big “comfy’’ chair by the fire­place on a rainy night. Isn’t that interesting! Maybe you do the same thing. If so we would like to know how you do it. Possibly we can improve our system and get some new ideas that will help us out. Wouldn’t you enjoy through per-

sonal contact, girls, meeting someone that was interested in the same thing you are?

We would like to hear from every National Builders Bureau Dealer. If you have a young lady in your office, ask her what she thinks about it. By the way, do you let the girls in your office sell the homes? We do it here. They like it and can sell a home from the Plan Service more quickly and more efficiently than any man you have in your office. Just try it.

That way every girl instead of just being a stenographer, or bookkeeper, becomes an important factor in your office. Give her a chance. She will take an interest that will surprise you, and will also feel as if she belongs to your institution and just not working until payday for what she can get.

Wouldn’t you like to belong to an organization of this kind? We are going to have one and you are invited to join us.

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Merchandising news – August 15, 1922

Home on truck helps sell lumber Here is a sample of a class of lumber dealer advertising that is coming into favor in many parts of the country. We have seen pictures of such propositions in several states.

The accompanying picture shows the delivery truck of Henry Koehler & Co., of Louisville, Ky. This is the most attractive of all the homes-on-trucks that we have seen.

Its popularity became such, when shown in eastern papers, that the firm had plans drawn for this exact house, which they distributed to other dealers, the result being that there are quite a number of retail lumber firms in the East today that have this identical house on their trucks.

The plan here shown is an exact reproduction of an attractive English home. The pilasters and chimneys are of imitation tapestry brick of four shades, laid with mortar rake-out joints.

The walls are covered with crushed stone and stucco. The windows on the sides have real frames, set in the wall, with separate French sashes of 15 lights each. The doors are divided in like manner. Under the door canopy is an electric light to which current is furnished.

The flower boxes hold evergreen shrub plants, with some colors intermingled, while at each side of the house is a min-

MINIATURE HOUSE on wheels proves to be effective dealer advertising.

iature cedar tree in a tub.

The color scheme is: walls, grey stucco; brick, tapestry, reds, brown,

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and yellows; ouside finish and frames, cream; shrubbery and trees, green steps, white stone; sash and doors, green.

1930s Through the early Thirties, the pages of The Merchant were filled with one expert after another claiming an economic turnaround was in sight. Then, several issues later, came the shock of realizing yet another prophecy failed, as business sunk lower and lower.

The Great Depression struck the lumber business as hard as any industry, since nearly 60% of all lumber went into construction. As money became tighter, fewer people could afford homes. With supply heavy, lumber companies began cutting production and laying off workers. West Coast mills, which in 1929 operated at 72% capacity, ran at 54% capacity in 1930, 36.5% in 1931, and under 20% in 1932. National lumber production, which reached the typical 37 billion bd. ft. in 1929, hit a Depression low of 10 billion ft. in 1932—about the same level as in 1869.

Rising unemployment meant even fewer people could buy a home. Housing starts, which had reached to the hundreds of thousands during the 1920s, averaged 26,000 single family residences in 1932, 1933 and 1934.

“The price of lumber has gone back to levels of 25 years ago,” Dionne bemoaned in April of 1932. “Twenty-five years of taxbearing, carrying charges, interest charges, protection and care costs, and now the market prices of 25 years ago; and with nothing like the volume of demand of those olden days.”

To get any part of the few jobs still out there, mills had to slash their prices, even below their cost. Many companies, including giants founded in the 1800s which had enjoyed record profits just a few years earlier, closed their doors. Layoffs mounted, and with high unemployment among skilled laborers, producers slashed their wages.

Yet the situation worsened, since now even fewer with jobs could afford a home.

The Merchant suffered every bit as deeply as the lumber industry and the entire nation. In 1925, the twice-monthly magazine boasted as many as 162 pages; by 1935, it was down to 24 pages. But Dionne was determined to keep both The Merchant and The Gulf Coast Lumberman afloat, despite the fact that so many of his advertisers were going out of business. He decided to no longer pay himself a salary. While continuing to shoulder his responsibilities as editor-publisher of both journals, he supported his family by working as a lobbyist for a group of Houston oil firms Recovery came slowly, after President Roosevelt initiated a series of aggressive programs to put the country back to work. Some worked (valuable public works projects), others didn’t (a minimum lumber price code eventually was interpreted as price fixing and ruled unconstitutional). But through it all, an industry and a country survived.

October 15, 1932 May 15, 1931

October 1, 1938 A15

Dionne’s mea culpa “Vagabond Editorial” – January 1, 1932

The Depression deepens

By Jack Dionne

I’ve just finished reading my Vagabond Editorial for (last year) January 1, 1931. And as I read, my head drooped lower and lower. When I finished, my forehead was dragging the floor.

Perhaps some of you remember the ragging this column gave poor old 1930 at that time. For two full columns we lambasted and cussed the year that had just been con­cluded. There wasn’t

anything too rough for us to utter—too mean for us to say. And we ended up as follows: “So on your way, 1930! You turned out to be a low­down, disgraceful, heartless, heart-breaking, deceitful hus­ sy!

You may have been 12 months to some folks, but you seemed like 12 centuries to us. On your way! And, if you never come back, it will be 10 million years

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too soon to suit most of us.”

I apologize, 1930. Humbly and sincerely I apologize for all them unkind words. Like the gallivanting husband, you were misunderstood. You were not properly appreci­ ated. When you left we hadn’t a single decent word to say about you—any of us. But now, looking back at you through the fogs of 1931, we realize what a mighty fine chap you really were after all, 1930.

We wish you had stayed longer—a year longer at least.

Something tells us, 1930, that when you heard the whole world excoriating you, you had your tongue in your cheek and your thumb to your nose, because you knew what was coming. Why didn’t you tell us, 1930, why didn’t you tell us?

But that isn’t all the humble pie we’ve got to publicly swallow right now, 1930. There’s plenty more.

There’s humble pie for all the wise guys on earth to eat—with plenty left over. I’m going to eat most of mine right now on this New Year’s morning, and let it take the place of good resolutions for the New Year.

Here’s why. In that same New Year’s Vagabond Editorial last year, in this same space, same column, under this same heading, I stuck my fool neck out in the following manner: “Let those who will look backward. The wise ones will look ahead. It can’t be worse. It’s bound to be better.”

I was wrong, 1930. Dead wrong. I admit it. When it comes to prognosticating the trend of depressions, I admit myself to be a piebald ass, 1930. They say confession is good for the soul.

Mine’s made.

Dionne editorial – July 1, 1932

The Royal Order of Hairy-Chested Men

By Jack Dionne

Thank God for these valiant men who can put a little fun into—and get a little fun out of—present con­ditions!

So I declared for the millionth time the other day when I received from my friend, Bill Horsley, of The Izzard Co., Seattle, Certificate of Membership in his newly created order, “The Royal Order of Hairy-Chested Men.” I promptly added my signature and hung it on the wall. I am very proud of it, and got a great gurgle out of Bill’s letter explaining what it’s all about.

It seems that he got into the habit of remarking to his friends when he heard the usual griping about conditions: “These days, tough as they may

be... will make hair grow on the chest of them as is worthy of growing the hair. The rest of the boys can go home

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because the party is over as far as they are con­cerned.”

So he decided to create, for the period of this Depression at least, this “Royal Order of Hairy-Chested Men,” and sign up for membership a lot of guys who have been knocked down a thousand times or more in the past three years, but have refused to take the count. Membership is limited to men recommended by present members as that sort of folks.

The Certificate of Membership includes the Oath of Membership, which is: “I hereby agree to go out and sock Old Man Despair square on the button every time I meet him.”

Since our founding, The Merchant Magazine has been closely aligned with lumbermen’s fraternity Hoo-Hoo International, from a regular column on club news in the 1920s to editing its quarterly journal, The Log & Tally, from 2017 to 2019.

By the tail of the Great Black Cat

By Stacey Douglas Jones

We are a fraternal order with an industrial base.”

Founded on the belief that personal contact is essential in work and social relationships, Hoo-Hoo believes that better communication builds trust between people in all parts of the industry.

The spirit of Hoo-Hoo is expressed in nine fundamental values, which encourage members to be Fraternal, Helpful, Grateful, Friendly, Tolerant, Progressive, Industrious, Ethical, and Loyal. Hoo-Hoo believes that these nine points are the building blocks of the “Golden Rule.” Therefore, HooHoo members are expected to practice these principles in both their business and personal lives to better themselves and society.

Why Hoo-Hoo? FIVE of the six founders of Hoo-Hoo at the dedication of the Hoo-Hoo monument in Gurdon, Ar., in 1909. Left to right: George Washington Schwartz, William Eddy Barns, Bolling Arthur Johnson, George Kimball Smith, William Starr Mitchell.

You’ve heard the name, pondered

the Black Cat logo, and seen pictures on the pages of this magazine, but what is the International Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo? Quite simply, one of the world’s oldest industrial service organizations dedicated to promoting forest product industries.

Hoo-Hoo began in January 1892, when six industry individuals found their train travels delayed in the small town of Gurdon, Ar. These men, brought together by chance and circumstance, listened as Bolling Arthur Johnson, a lumber trade journalist, and George K. Smith, a lumber association secretary, contemplated the idea of bringing the diverse aspects of the industry together in goodwill and fellowship. They want-

ed a common group to promote high ideals and a code of ethics nationwide.

They also felt that having fun along the way would be one of the many benefits of membership. Then and there, this enthusiastic group of six set about forming this new Order.

The Hoo-Hoo Ideal

Hoo-Hoo has fun with unusual names and titles, like the international president’s Snark of the Universe title.

“Fortunately, what we are called is less important than what we are,” said Paul Todd, the current Snark of the Universe.

“We are an organization of individuals dedicated to the ideals of a united and progressive forest-based industry that contributes to the community’s welfare.

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Hoo-Hoo gives you contact with energetic and progressive people in all branches of the forest products industry. Their knowledge is yours for the asking. So it’s possible to learn in a brief period what it took others years to acquire.

Hoo-Hoo broadens your mind. Its programs offer members information about worthwhile matters both in and out of the industry. Together with other professionals, you have an opportunity to grow and learn. If you have a timber problem, Hoo-Hoo will help you. If you have a sound idea that will benefit the industry, Hoo-Hoo will help you.

Hoo-Hoo forges friendships that will last a lifetime. The cooperation of many people working together to better the industry can move a mountain as easily as an individual moves a stone. You can be a part of more than a century of cooperation that is the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo.

SACRAMENTO CLUB 109 members John Taylor and Pat Zan from Taiga Building Products will be two of the hosts at the upcoming 130th Hoo-Hoo International Convention in Old Town Sacramento Sept. 10-13. They, along with the rest of the members of Club 109, will roll out the California Gold carpet in welcome.

THE STAR of Hoo-Hoo is a prestigious award given to honor special members. Only 100 of these medallions were made, each numbered, and show the nine points of Hoo-Hoo to highlight the values by which all members pledge to follow in every aspect of their lives.

together as an appropriate name for a group who sought to be unconventional (and a little mysterious) in a very fraternal way. Today over 102,000 people have joined the ranks over its 130-year history.

What’s in a Name?

Curious about the name? The official name of the organization is the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo. A “hoo-hoo” was a term coined by Johnson a month earlier to describe an alarming tuft of hair that grew on top of the otherwise bald head of his fellow lumberman, Charles H. McCarer. The term became a catchphrase in the industry for anything unusual or out of the ordinary. The term “concatenate” means to unite— to bring together—thus, the two unusual words were brought

Club Activities

Each local club selects its mix of activities. Besides social events, many focus on community service and use their activities to raise funds for charity or forestry scholarships.

Often clubs support education programs for teachers and kids to share the values of sustainable forestry. Clubs also mentor older students by showing viable career choices in the industry.

Individual clubs meet socially at golf tournaments, industry nights, or other organized events. But, through it all, the common thread of Hoo-Hoo is fraternalism—the fellowship that comes from a common interest and desire to socialize with people of similar experiences.

Hoo-Hoo & You

If you support the forest products industry, are at least 18 years of age, enjoy socializing with great people, live life with a code of ethics, and desire to give back to your community, Hoo-Hoo is for you! We invite you to learn more about and consider membership in Hoo-Hoo International, the fraternal order of the forest products industry.

Come Join Us This September

Hoo-Hoo will be holding its 130th International Convention Sept. 10-13 in Old Town Sacramento. Hosted by Sacramento Club #109, this will be the first official meeting in person since the start of the pandemic, and it will prove to be a raucous good time to all be back together. A concat (new member initiation) will be held during the event.

If you are curious about Hoo-Hoo and joining, this would be an excellent opportunity. Members from around the world will be there, and the amount of friendliness will amaze you.

To find out more and see which local chapter would fit you best, contact Kalene Hooks at Hoo-Hoo International’s headquarters in Gurdon, Ar., by emailing to info@hoo-hoo.org.

Stacey Douglas Jones 99678 is the Napa, Ca.-based owner of By Design and designer/editor emeritus of Hoo-Hoo’s Log & Tally magazine.

THE MERCHANT reported on Hoo-Hoo happenings from Year One, including in a regular column.

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1940s The day the U.S. entered World War II, 700 miles off San Francisco, Japan sunk a 2,140ton freighter carrying a cargo of lumber for the U.S. Transport Service. During the next two weeks, three other lumber ships were attacked but made their way to port, including McCormick Steamship Co.’s freighter Absaroka with a cargo of 5 million ft. of lumber. Torpedoed off the California coast on Dec. 24. 1941, it was towed into port by two Navy tugs.

Wood products would play a vital role in the war, and the conflict would revitalize the industry. During the early Forties, tens of billions of board feet of lumber would go into building rifle stocks, ammunition boxes, shipping crates, tank models, troop housing, Army laundries, hospitals, portable bridges, recreation centers, laboratories, chapels, offices, mess halls, naval air bases, hangars, ships, drydocks, shipyards, defense factories, scaffolding, wharves, pontoons, ties, poles, props, anti-tank barriers, shoring, shelters, lockers, gas mask filters, lifeboat covers, plywood to black out windows, and thousands of other uses.

By late 1942, 90% of all U.S. lumber shipments went into war, defense and priority-controlled essential civilian uses.

It took just two weeks in 1942 for Weyerhaeuser to build a special mini-sawmill in Longview, Wa., install second-hand machinery, and begin producing special timber for aircraft lumber. A few months earlier, Penberthy Lumber Co. opened a new yard in Los Angeles exclusively to remanufacture, process and dry airplane spruce lumber for the glider and aircraft program.

The next year, Barr Lumber Co. converted its Santa Ana, Ca., yard and mill to produce barges. Ironically, the lumber industry, which had long derided substitute materials for encroaching on its markets, now saw wood being called to play roles traditionally filled by steel and other “war metals.” Wood was used to produce explosives, rubber, flou , glass, photographic supplies, dyes, clothing, motor fuel, even food.

Wood technology exploded, as researchers began treating, twisting, laminating and otherwise controlling the shape and strength of wood in order to make it serve war purposes that were undreamed of months earlier. Not every sector of the industry thrived during the War. On April 9, 1942, the War Production Board outlawed all construction not essential to war effort since it diverted labor, materials or equipment. Building already in progress could continue, rigidly controlled, but no new projects costing over $500 could be started.

The freeze made it illegal for retailers to sell their products to their customers. Then there were additional restrictions on trucks and delivery, and shortages of gasoline, manpower and lumber itself.

“The manufacturers have no serious selling problems,” Jack Dionne wrote in The Merchant, which throughout the War featured a regular Honor Roll of Lumbermen in the Armed Services. “Theirs is now a problem of intelligent supply. Their brains and energies are devoted to trying to meet the exigencies of the situation in the best possible manner.”’

Weyerhaeuser highlighted “Women Wood and War!” in its advertising – November 15, 1942

The Merchant’s first themed Special Issue: The Plywood Issue – July 1, 1949

Dionne issues sabotage warning – January 1, 1942

Merchant 9-17 Layout.qxp_D SigNov03-1-8,41-48 8/28/17 4:23 PM Page 15

Guard your sawmills!

cally reject such an offer. As a result, the buyers face ‘adverse selection’—the only sellers who will accept $750 are those unloading lemons.

“Smart buyers foresee this problem. Knowing they could be buying a lemon, they offer only $500. Sellers of theoff lemons endwomen up with filled the same have WITH to the need for workers WITH SO SO MANY MANY men men off to war, war, women filled theprice needthey forwould workers received were there no ambiguity. But the peaches all stay at and other operations, such as at the Turkey at sawmills, sawmills, factories factories and other operations, such as at the Turkey in the garage. “Information asymmetry” kills the market for Pond Pond mill mill in in New New Hampshire Hampshire in 1942.

1942. good cars.” in Structural wood panel buyers rely upon qualified inspection and testing agencies like the APA to routinely test and certify the quality of the products they buy. This creates an incentive for individual panel producers to “push” the standard. A passage from Ackerloff’s famous paper: HARD MAPLE is popular throughout the Glacial Region.

“There are many markets in which buyers use some market statistic to judge the quality of prospective purchaslong, winter climate, coupled with a shorttosummer es. Infrigid this case there is an incentive for sellers market season, produces hardwoods with tight rings. poor quality merchandise, since thevery returns forgrowth good quality This creates lumber with outstanding color and fine texture, accrue mainly to the entire group whose statistic is affected which is ideal for applications ranging from furniture, rather than to the individual seller. As a result there tends to cabinetry and doors flooring,quality paneling more. be a reduction in thetoaverage of and goods and also the region supplies nine primary, widely used species, sizeThis of the market.” including: ash,industry basswood, cherry,industry hickory,production hard maple,techred When the is young, oak, soft maple, white oak andmaterials walnut. are relatively homonologies vary little and raw geneous (e.g., OSB), this isn’t a major problem. But it is a Appalachian Region: Superior serious problem when the inspection and Quality testing agencies Spanning several states, including find it difficult or impossible to keep upOhio, with Pennsylvania, a very rapidly North Carolina, Virginia West Virginia, the changing industry. An exampleand would be today’s overlaid Appalachian region produces a wide of hardwoods Douglas fir plywood industry.

Thererange are rapid changes species—all with one thing in common: superior quality. underway on both the demand side (e.g., much higher alkaThanks to the region’s climate conditions—warm linity concrete mixes are now essentially “pulping” consummers that and assist tree growth, and much coolerreduced spring form panels) on with the supply side (e.g.,

By Jack Dionne

Watch your sawmill plant, Mr. Manufacturer! Watch and guard it as you never dreamed of doing before! This means NOW and it means YOU! This is an emergency situation the likes of which there has never been before. Every sawmill is a defense plant, every industrial institution a government asset to help win the war.

Make your plans AT ONCE and put them into effect, to make your mills as safe from possible sabotage as is humanly possible. Don’t spare the expense.

These are times when mysterious fires appear, and valuable sawmills disappear. Don’t doubt for a moment that there are plenty of saboteurs who would consider it their business to put a match to your mill. Put on extra forces. Take every possible precaution. Don’t let your mills burn. Conserve your resources for the job ahead.

In all probability, the Government itself will request and advise you regarding the taking of precautionary measures to protect your mills. Don’t wait! Start NOW with your extra guards and additional precautions! Remember we are at war, and take war-like measures to protect and preserve your mills!

A fine slogan right now would be: “A strong, high fence, and plenty of guards, for every sawmill!”

and fall sea supplies of to be gradu “market fo feature tig size of this colors and and beauty Overcom longHow length ca Primary “lemons m oak, tom,”soft andm poplar and company-s millwork, Anotherc NoInmatt ucts. eit North Am differentia The decisio earlier, ind application important b won’t chan Don Ba be –buying Northwest H For som tion requi instance, it tiated prod n’t also ada partners are ducer’s diff As indu upon only “lemons” tends to de

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Breaking news – July 1, 1945

Wartime conditions in the West Coast lumber industry

By Jack Dionne

The Pacific offensive will be endangered by shortages of the lumber it urgently needs in great quantities unless losses of manpower and vital equipment in the West Coast lumber industry are stopped, Col. W. B. Greeley, secretary-manager of the West Coast Lumberman’s Association, warned in Seattle today, June 11.

“The lumber industry has been steadily drained of manpower since

the first effort of national defense,” Col. Greeley said. “Over 7,000 woods and mill employees have gone into the armed services, and as many more have been drawn to the shipyards and other Pacific Northwest war industries. We are short today at least 20% of normal manpower. The industry maintained annual production of 8.75 billion bd. ft. through 1941 and 1942 and turned out nearly 8 billion ft. in 1943 and again in 1944. To date production is running about 11% under that of the same period last year.

“Steady production of lumber in the Pacific Northwest has just been taken for granted by the War Agencies.

Although constantly citing the critical shortage of lumber, they have made no effective effort to provide men for this industry. Their lack of help has run through the drafting of key workers by Selective Service; the low rating given lumber, until very recently, in employment priorities; and the constant refusal to release on furlough skilled loggers from the Armed forces. The unrest and migration of labor, at the loss of lumber production, has been seriously increased by the complete failure of the government to enforce its own orders on wage stabilization. More disturbance of lumber’s manpower has followed the

gratuitous foisting of the Travel Time controversy upon West Coast logging by the Wage and Hour Administration.

“Now the War Department tells us that construction troops will equal combat troops in numbers with every landing of the attack on Japan, and that lumber will be their basic building material. In this offensive we will have no ready-made bases as we had in Europe.

The bases will have to be built with every advance of our forces on the land of Japan or in China. The War Department says the job in the Pacific will be like building another Chicago in lumber.

“At the same time, it has not been possible to supply the lumber needed and desired for civilian requirements.

There has had to be a general suspension of home and farm building as one of our war necessities, to conserve materials for the emergency.

“The West Coast lumber industry will again give everything it has got to the war and civilian demands put upon it, just as the industry has done during the past five years. But it is being drained of its vital force. To maintain its record of producing what it has been asked to produce for the war, the West Coast lumber industry must be enabled to keep men in the woods and mills and to procure vital equipment for logging.”

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“A Load We Transport Is a Load off Your Mind” A23

Breaking news – January 1, 1946

Post-war federal home construction program launches The government’s program on home construction will go into effect Jan. 15 (1946), John D. Small announced.

The chief of the Civilian Production Administration ordered that dwellings costing $10,000 or less be offered first to veterans and said the top rent on these dwellings will be $80 a month.

Small estimated that at least 400,000 homes will be built under the program in 1946.

He said, too, that if a preponderance of applications for homes to sell at $10,000 are received, C.P.A. will have to establish quotas “to see that a share of new dwellings are in the lower price ranges.”

The C.P.A. chief outlined a new regulation restoring 10 kinds of critically scarce building materials to a priority system and announced that the Federal Housing Administration will handle applications for these through its 52 field offices.

Beginning Jan. 15, home builders who qualify will be assigned a so-called “H.H.” rating for these materials.

Ratings will be awarded either to individual veterans who wish to build for themselves, or to builders desiring to erect one or more buildings.

Housing already under way may be

brought within the program, Small said, if it meets the $10,000 price limit, is offered first to veterans and meets other standards outlined in the regulation.

All applications for priorities assistance in obtaining materials must agree to make the housing available to veterans during the period of construction and for 30 days thereafter. At the conclusion of that period it may be sold or rented to a non-veteran at the same sale price or rental applicable to veterans.

Building materials covered by the new regulations are: common and face brick, clay sewer pipe, structural tile, gypsum board, gypsum lath, cast iron soil pipe and fittings, cast iron radiation equipment, bath tubs, lumber and millwork.

Here are the principal provisions of the new regulations drawn up at the direction of President Truman in a move to ease the acute housing shortage: l. Applicants for the so-called “H.H.” ratings must submit specifications on homes to be built under the program, along with the price or rental at which the dwelling will be made available to veterans of World War II, including merchant seamen. The F.H.A. must be satisfied that the proposed price or rent A24

is “reasonably related to the cost of the proposed accommodations.”

2. Builders must show they will be ready to start construction within 60 days. They also must demonstrate thatthey have control of the land, financing is assured and arrangements have been made for local building permits, utility service and the like. If construction has not been started within 60 days, the H.H. rating becomes void and a new application must be filed.

3. In the case of resale, veterans or other purchasers are pledged to the same 30-day waiting period during which the dwelling must be offered exclusively to other veterans. The sale must be made at or below the maximum sales price originally paid.

4. The regulation also provides for conversion of existing construction where it can be shown that this will result in increased housing facilities.

5. Building materials also may be channeled to dormitories or group housing for educational institutions for the benefit of veterans.

1950s When World War II ended, the U.S. faced an unprecedented shortage of housing brought on by 16 years of depression and war. During the next 10 years, more than 10 million American families would become new homeowners. Annual housing starts exceeded 1 million in 1950 and never looked back. For the first time, home ownership surpassed 60% Like the U.S. itself. the nation’s 26,000 lumber retailers prospered. They became more efficient and reduced handling costs through the development of mechanized and time-saving equipment, improved methods of inventory control, and the continued training of the more than 100,000 men hired by retail yards after the war.

Sales were also aided by a record birthrate, low-interest, low-down payment government loans, a surge in remodeling, and the emergence of a new customer, the “do-it-yourself enthusiast.”

With defense spending remaining high, keeping steel in short supply, wood technology research continued strong after the war. The development of the TECO ring connector helped enlarged lumber’s use as an engineering material, while strides made in perfecting glues and gluing techniques created glue-laminated members, opening up countless more uses for wood. Glue-laminated beams, trusses, columns and solid members could be built up in an endless variety of sizes, shapes, lengths and styles.

The wood products industry played a vital role in rebuilding America. As the then-president of the National Association of Home Builders told lumber merchants in 1955: “In providing good homes, good designs, and good values, we are making it possible to build better citizens and a better nation for us all.”

Our first full-color cover advertiser: Western Hardwood Lumber Co., distributor of Upson Laminated Panels – February 15, 1950

Hyster shows off its latest forklift models – December 15, 1950

The Merchant recruited local lumber salesmen to pose for its subscription drive – January 1, 1958 A26

Latest forest products craze – January 1, 1959

More mills packaging with branded lumber wrap because it is branded and protected, is of highest possible quality.

From this reasoning comes reduced resistance to price, declare lumber retailers.

The imprinted lumber wrap is produced in continuous rolls in various widths as specified by the mill. The wrapping and heat sealing of varying lengths of finished lumber is presently automated to some extent at the mill. However, Fortifiber is in the first stages of development on a low-cost, higher-speed machine to mechanically wrap and seal the lumber packages. They estimate the machine will produce close to three packages per minute and was to be available for demonstration early in December.

PASADENA dealer Lathrop “Lay” Lishman of Crown City Lumber Co. likes the peak arrival condition, ease of stocking and handling, and cleanliness of the wrapped-lumber shipment received from Georgia-Pacific.

The ever-increasing trend of packaging lumber gained further strides with the signing of several additional lumber producers as customers for branded lumber wrap by Fortifiber Corp.

The firm develops and produces plastic-coated kraft papers used for this function.

According to Stanley G. Yount, president of Fortifiber, the following lumber companies are either presently using the firm’s lumber wrap or have placed orders for “earliest possible” delivery: The Pacific Lumber Co., Georgia-Pacific, Weyerhaeuser, Anaconda Co., Diehl Lumber Co., T. Herbert Bate Co., Potlatch Forests, Simpson Redwood Co., Haener Lumber Co., Kalispell Lumber Co., and Northwest Timber Structures.

Yount describes the lumber wrap as dust tight, weather tight, flexible and tough. It is a “breather” sheet that tends to keep the wrapped lumber dry and conditioned. Lumberyards especially like the wrapped-lumber trend because the lumber is kept clean and undamaged by abrasion and scuffing; units handle, store and inventory more easily; and there is a pronounced reduction of “single-piece orders” by the public Also, it is claimed that the pre-packaged branded lumber tends to establish in the consumer’s mind that the lumber,

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“Focused on the future with respect for tradition” A27

1960s The 1960s are remembered as a period of sweeping change, and that description also applied not only to the lumber industry, but to The California Lumber Merchant, as well. J.E. Martin, Jack Dionne’s right-hand man who started as manager of the San Francisco office in 1922 and had served as editor since 1927, retired in the late 1950s. Dionne began lessening his workload as well, paring back to supply the occasional editorial and anecdote.

In 1962, Dionne began looking for a successor. Prominent lumberman A.D. Bell Jr. arrived with his checkbook. He had little interest in running a publishing empire, but was determined to make sure the beloved magazine survived. A young former scribe with Stars & Stripes, David Cutler, joined the business in 1962, initially in advertising production, but quickly rose to assistant editor and in 1964 managing editor, partnering with publisher Bell and over the years buying the business from him.

In 1965, Bell acquired their primary competitor, Western Building Review, and decided to combine their names into The California Lumber Merchant & Western Building Review. Soon after, the title was tweaked to The Western Lumber & Building Materials Merchant.

Within two quick years, the magazine changed its name twice—with a permanent abbreviation on the horizon

Dionne’s successor, A.D. Bell

A lumber giant of our own completed the sale in 1975, simultaneously retiring from the lumber industry and becoming the magazine’s publisher emeritus. He also became a champion of the Forest History Society, serving as a longtime board member, vice president in the late 1970s, and president of the

A.D. “Al” Bell

O

f the five publishers who have led The Merchant Magazine, four arrived with publishing or journalism backgrounds. One had none—he was a lumberman.

Alfred D. Bell, Jr., wasn’t just any lumberman. His stepfather, A.B. Hammond, founded the premier firm of the first half of the 20th century, Hammond Lumber Co. Born in 1909 in Yonkers, N.Y., Bell started working in the lumber business at age 15. After graduating from Harvard University in 1932, he moved to the San Francisco area to work for various adjuncts of Hammond Lumber—first for Hammond Shipping Co.; then from 1934 to 1939 as manager of mill sales for Hammond Redwood Co. in Samoa, Ca.; and finally as sales manager for parent Hammond Lumber until the mid-1940s.

Starting in 1946, he began his 23-year term as president and owner of Bell Redwood Co., San Francisco. He soon after became partner, president and chairman of preeminent wholesaler Hobbs Wall Lumber Co., which he and Lew Goddard sold in 1962 and relaunched as Goddard & Bell. Bell also served as president of Vacaville Lumber Co., Vacaville, Ca., and for a term as president of NAWLA. He had no experience in publishing, apart from cherishing the industry’s history and long enjoying The California Lumber Merchant. When he heard that Jack Dionne was ready to retire, he purchased the publication, serving as publisher and, briefly, as editor. Once he identified a young successor whom he trusted to carry on The Merchant’s legacy, he began easing his participation. He A29

FHS Endowment Fund. After his death in 1985, the FHS board organized the Alfred D. Bell Travel Grants program to fulfill his earnest wish to assist young writers with their forest history scholarship.

Forest history and reporting owe Al Bell a great debt.

Over the last 100 years—except for founder Jack Dionne no one has done as much to keep The Merchant alive and thriving as David Cutler. We asked Dave to share some of his memories and, true to his ever-humble nature, he preferred to write in the third-person, like a far-off reporter. Indeed, Dave always strove to keep himself—and The Merchant—out of the story. He pioneered our ever-popular event photo montages, snapping pictures at hundreds of functions, but never having one taken of him (unless, of course, his lovely wife Marti was in attendance).

Today, the camera is usually toted by our advertising department’s Chuck Casey, who has covered close to 500 events during his 27 years with the company.

The Merchant’s vibrant Middle Ages

By David Cutler

I

This theme would continue to the present day.

A few years later, in 1966, the new owners renamed The California Lumber Merchant to The Merchant Magazine.

In addition to the magazine’s new moniker, the new owners invested in upgrading publication quality while always maintaining the relationships with those in the industry that still did big-dollar business by a handshake. This was a point of pride for the new owners who maintained their client relationships, taking advertising orders verbally. The industry handshake still ruled, showing the quality of industry leaders and the reliability of their work and handshake.

The new owners continued to work, maintaining Dionne’s tradition of journalistic excellence. Many readers’ favorite column featured the industry’s fictional and whimsical mascots, Hugh Mungus and Freddy Fungus. Yes, some readers still question if they truly exist.

On October 14, 1975, upon Bell’s retirement, David and his wife Marti Cutler became sole owners. Together, they continued the pursuit of substantive improvement for existing readers and wider reach.

While The Merchant continued to win industry awards, on February 1, 1982, the first issue of the award-winning Building Products Digest was published. “The Digest” was an opportunity to grow geographically to the 13 Southern states, thus furthering the reach into the booming Southern market.

In addition to the two magazines, the publishers also launched several ancillary products which served related markets.

After nearly 40 years of nurture and growth, the Cutlers sold The Merchant and BPD to new owners to carry the torch forward.

n a world where most magazines typically last only a few years at most, The Merchant Magazine has survived the test of time by serving the lumber and building products industries by providing timely and relevant news, features, and valuable content.

Its growth is a testament to a handful of dedicated individuals with a mission to serve the industry and address what was desperately missing in the industry at the time; a publication with meaningful content.

Contributing to the magazine’s success was the fact that the owners and editors were all active lumbermen with a family heritage in the industry.

With humble beginnings, The Merchant Magazine was founded in 1922 as The California Lumber Merchant by Jack Dionne. The format soon struck the appropriate balance of valuable business insight while featuring the hard-working lumbermen and women, which propelled the magazine’s success.

By the early 1960s, much of the lumber industry still operated traditionally; The days of the big-box retailer had yet to arrive; however, some progressive retailers and wholesalers were beginning to leave their mark. The slower pace of many towns with retail lumber yards remained the norm.

As the market evolved, chains of smaller yards, many family-owned, soldiered on with modest profitability. This diverse, layered market environment continued with wholesalers servicing the retailers in smooth working relationships until the arrival of the big-box establishments. While many retailers and wholesalers adapted successfully to the new market, the industry was changing rapidly.

In 1962 after 40 years of success, Dionne realized the time to sell his magazine had come. Dionne sought a team to continue his legacy of serving the industry with quality industry news and journalistic excellence. Lumberman A.D. Bell, owner of Hobbs-Wall Lumber Co., with family ties to Hammond Lumber Co. and David Cutler, a member of the Horton family that owned the Standard Lumber Co., a Minnesota chain of retail lumberyards, both would step into Dionne’s shoes to propel the magazine into its next chapter.

Bell realized an opportunity to provide the industry with a higher standard of excellence in news reporting and quality printing. Bell also realized that a light touch and a bit of humor were needed to reach the lumber and trade readership.

David Cutler, who joined The Merchant in 1962, completed its purchase with his wife Marti in 1975.

They retired in 2001.

A30

THE MERCHANT

X

WESTERN WOODS

SUCCESS BUILT TOGETHER As a family-owned business, we at Western Woods understand the value of relationships.

The Merchant has played a critical role in our marketing efforts throughout the years and has enabled us to effectively reach our customers. Their services, knowledge, and passion for the customer have played a large part in our ongoing success. From our team to yours, thank you.

Congratulations on reaching 100 years!

Let’s get social

Call us at 800-822-8157

Visit us at westernwoodsinc.com

Traditional mechanically-attached housewraps still product is present in the basements of about 2,200 houses Ace Offers Extra Mile Guarantee Industry trends – February make up1968 more than two-thirds of all housewrap and WRB

Ace Hardware is rolling out its Extra Mile Promise, a guarantee that Ace has the expert advice and supplies needed to help consumers successfully tackle any paint project with just one trip to the store.

Available at participating stores nationwide, the vow was created to address and relieve the frustration consumers deal with when faced with the proposition of yet another trip to the store as a result of forgotten items or not enough paint.

Ace is companies so confident in its one-trip Building produtcts accounted for 47 guarantee of the rethat it will provide free2,975 delivery to consumers who may be cord-breaking total of mergers in 1967, according to in need of additional supplies.

W.T. Grimm & Co., apaint financial consulting firm specializing “Whileand it hurt our pride to learn this, theprevious truth isyear, that in mergers corporate consolidations.

In the while consumers trust Ace as the Helpful Place, far too 87 mergers occurred in the building products group. The total TO MARK Lumber’s centennial, CEO Bill Hayward sliced the many ofofHayward them believed that our speedy sized stores didn’t number mergers recorded in 1966 was 2,377. birthday cake Hayward style—with a chain saw—during a Sept.

7 celebrahave enough product to complete their paint as project,” said twice as cash in an acquisitionStock in San was Luis Obispo, Ca.,popular that wasas attended by 1967 nearly 1,000.

Johnmedium Venhuizen, president and CEO. “We isn’t tion in building products mergers.

Ofknow the 47this mergers towere assuage these and misperceptions, inthethecase, field,so28 for stock 14 for cash. we decided to stand behind our largeWeather paint assortment with the Extra Mile Housewraps, Barriers Cash-stock combinations accounted for the remaining Promise.

Our objective is simple: to be known as the #1, five transactions.

In the overall study, stock transactions Trending in Residential Market best, most 60% convenient, most helpful and most credible comprised ofpreferences all mergers, cash forevolving, 36%,store and Housewrap are accounted gradually for paint infor neighborhood.” cash/stock In building products, cash deals (57)2019 outaccording tothe a4%. recent presentation at the Housewrap numbered those for stock (25) by more than two-to-one conference on made builder and consumer practices

by Ed Weyco Recalls Coated I-Joists in 1966. That year the overall study disclosed that 60% of all Hudson, Home Innovation Research Labs.

Weyerhaeuser recalling a 60% batch of5% TJIfor Joists with Flak deals were for cash,isthat 35% for stock andof cash-stock.

Hudson shared about all housewrap and Jacket Protection, after(WRB) linking anpaid odoris ininstalled certainon newly The average price/earnings ratio for building prodweather-resistant barrier material new constructed homes to is a recent formula change in the being coatucts companies in 1967 was 12.8, virtually thehomes same as in homes; the remainder installed primarily on Merchant 8-17 Layout.qxp_D SigNov03-1-8,41-48 7/25/17 1:18 PM Page 20 ing that included formaldehyde-based resin.

The issue is 1966 when the ratio was 12.7.

Divisional spin-offs accounted re-sided. isolated to Flak Jacket product made after Dec. 2016, for eight building products mergers indominate l967.

DuPont’s Tyvek continues to with1,nearly and does not affect any the company’s other Commenting upon theofWRB trend and outlook for the building half the housewrap and installations in products. new homes.

Flak Jacket Protection is a coating applied to I-joists to products group, E.P. Fillion Jr. of the Grimm organization DuPont established leadership in technology and education enhance fire resistance, and it is not widely in use.

The said that merger activity and prices declined in 1967 due to early have maintained leadership for decades.

AceandOffers Extrathat Mile Guarantee Ace Hardware is rolling out its Extra Mile Promise, a guarantee that Ace has the expert advice and supplies needed to help consumers successfully tackle any paint project with just one trip to the store.

Available at participating stores nationwide, the vow was created to address and relieve the frustration consumers deal with when faced with the proposition of yet another trip to the store as a result of forgotten items or not enough paint. Ace is so confident in its one-trip guarantee that it will provide free delivery to consumers who may be in need of additional paint supplies.

“While it hurt our pride to learn this, the truth is that while consumers trust Ace as the Helpful Place, far too TO MARK Lumber’sthat centennial, CEO Bill Hayward sliced the many of Hayward them believed our speedy sized stores didn’t birthday cake Hayward style—with a chain saw—during Sept. 7 celebrahave enough product to complete their paintaproject,” said tion in San Luis Obispo, Ca., that was attended by nearly 1,000.

John Venhuizen, president and CEO. “We know this isn’t the case, so to assuage these misperceptions, we decided to stand behind our largeWeather paint assortment with the Extra Mile Housewraps, Barriers Promise. Our objective is simple: to be known as the #1, Trending in Residential Market best, most convenient, most helpful and most store Housewrap preferences are graduallycredible evolving, for paint in the neighborhood.” according to a recent presentation at the Housewrap 2019 conference on builder and consumer practices by Ed Weyco Recalls I-Joists Hudson, Home InnovationCoated Research Labs.

Weyerhaeuser recalling batch of of all TJI housewrap Joists with Flak Hudson sharedisthat abouta 60% and Jacket Protection, after linking an odor in certain newly weather-resistant barrier (WRB) material is installed on new 1321 N. Kraemer Blvd. (Box 879), Anaheim, Ca. 92806 constructed homes to is a recent formula change in the being coathomes; the remainder installed primarily on homes Fax 714-630-3190 ing that included formaldehyde-based resin. The issue is re-sided.

(714) 632-1988 • (800) 675-REEL isolated to Flak Jacket product to made after Dec. 2016, DuPont’s Tyvek continues dominate with1,nearly and does not affect any of the company’s other products.

3518 Chicago Ave., Riverside, Ca. 92507 half the housewrap and WRB installations in new homes.

Flak established Jacket Protection is a coating appliedand to I-joists to (951) DuPont leadership in781-0564 technology education enhance fire resistance, and it is not widely in use.

The early and have maintained that leadership for decades. www.reellumber.com

in various stages of construction in limited markets. Most materials installed, butyet alternatives of the houses are not occupied. are making inroads.

Combination WRB and structural panels, such Weyerhaeuser will cover the cost sheathing to either remediate or as Huber’s ZIP System and Georgia-Pacific’s ForceField, replace affected joists. It has halted production, sales and now make up about 10% ofand thisismarket among new product homes. shipments of the product, collecting unused Self-adhered membranes are now approaching 10% of the from customers. market, as well. Fluid-applied Approximately $9 million ofmembranes the productnow has constitute been sold about 3% of new home housewrap/WRB installations. since December 2016. Weyerhaeuser expects to spend $50to traditional $60Alternatives million resolving the issue.housewrap are found more extensively on higher-end homes and multifamily buildings.

Mergers rise in turbulent ’60s

Wholesale Industrial Lumber

REEL

34 20

LUMBER SERVICE

Wholesale

n The 2019 The Merchant Merchant Magazine Magazine nn October August 2017

A32

Windows & Doors Keep Growing Ace Rebranding Handyman Division Residential window shipments increased 5.7% in 2016,

Ace Hardware the shipped acquisition of amounting to moreCorp. than has 43.2completed million units across Handyman Matters, franchisor of home repair, maintenance the nation. Looking forward, national growth is expected to and improvement services basedbefore in Denver, Co.off somewhat increase another 5.6% in 2017 trailing Early next year, Handyman Matters will be rebranded in 2019 to 4.6% growth, according to a new Window as & Ace Handyman Services and operate as a new stand-alone, Door Manufacturers Association study. subsidiary Ace Hardware.

In 2016,ofshipments of side-hinged entry doors increased Handyman a franchise comprised by 6.1% to 9.7Matters millionisunits on the organization national level, alleviatof locally owned and operated and company-owned ing any concerns over the decrease in units shipped locations that offer multi-skilled between 2014 and professional 2015. Basedand on the analysis ofcraftsmen, the data, trained to handle a homeowner’s to-do list in addition to annual growthoutlook is forecasted to climb to 5.9% in 2017 the short-range for the housing market.

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Most materials installed, butyet alternatives of the houses are not occupied. are making inroads.

Combination WRB and structural panels, such Weyerhaeuser will cover the cost sheathing to either remediate or as Huber’s ZIP Lumber System t Reel Service, we production, supply ForceField, replace affected joists. Itand hasGeorgia-Pacific’s halted sales and now make up about 10% ofand thisismarket among new product homes. shipments of the collecting unused domestic andproduct, foreign hardwoods.

Self-adhered membranes are now approaching 10% of the from Our customers. products and services include: market, as well.

Fluid-applied membranes now constitute Approximately $9 million of the product has been sold • Hardwood Lumber & Pine about of new 2016. home housewrap/WRB installations. since 3% December Weyerhaeuser expects to spend $50• Hardwood Plywood & housewrap Veneers Alternatives to traditional are found more $60 million resolving the issue. extensively on higher-end homes and multifamily buildings.

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Basedand on the analysis ofcraftsmen, the data, trained to handle a homeowner’s to-do in addition to colorgrowth putty, is adhesives, etc.) annual forecasted to climb list to 5.9% in 2017 larger projects.

On-site services to consumers and small before declining to a modest 5.2% growth in 2019. businesses include interior carpentry, plumbing, electrical, drywall, Architectural flush doors recovered from a ur products arecurrently widely used in painting and flooring.

It has 57 franchisees who decline the previous year by growing 4.5% in 2016 with interior finish carpentry, furniture, collectively employ about 250 handymen and women in nearly 2.9 million units shipped, while stile and rail doors 121 territories across 23 states. cabinetry and hundreds of industrial and continued its upward trend with a 6.6% increase with nearBell, the founder andAnnual CEOWe ofgrowth Handyman Matters, ly Andy 0.44 million units shipped. doors manufacturing applications. stock aof flush will continue to lead the day-to-day business operations is forecast to line be 4% in 2017 before products declining to 1% in complete of complementary for Ace Handyman Services from its headquarters 2019. and rail doors are predicted to grow 4% in in to Stile complete virtually anyalso woodworking Denver.

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t Reel Lumber Service, we Building-Products.com supply domestic and foreign hardwoods.

1970s Through the 1970s, LBM dealers and wholesalers began devoting more selling and storage space to other building materials, and the housing boom expanded to wider and wider markets. It’s one reason why we earlier changed our name to The Western Lumber & Building Materials Merchant. In 1975, that title was mercifully shortened to our longtime nickname, The Merchant Magazine.

Many of the articles of 50 years ago seem strangely familiar: “Tying Electronic Data Processing into Your Accounting System,” “Are Steel Studs Really Cheaper?,” “Metrics Make Sense.” “Can the Independent Hack It?” and “Find your market and serve it!”

One of the most popular sections was New Products, which since 1954 has provided retailers with a first glimpse at innovations which often become staples of their business.

During the 1970s, The Merchant offered an early peek at: • Potlatch’s first MSR lumber (July 1970), • Boise Cascade’s laminated roof and floor decking (September 1970), • American Wholesale Hardware’s revolutionary inventory program featuring computer-coded labels (February 1971), • American Forest Products’ 4-ft. square redwood patio panels (June 1971), • Marvin’s early prefinished wood windows and patio doors (August 1971) • Sierra Pacific Industries new vinyl-wrapped mouldings (February 1972), • Jarke Corp.’s improved cantilever racking featuring adjustable arms (March 1974), • Andersen’s low maintenance Perma-Shield windows (June 1974), • Kwikset’s early-warning home smoke alarm (September 1974), • Homesote’s new fire retardant fiberboard panel (January 1975) • Genie radio-controlled automatic garage door opener for DIYers (March 1975), • Louisiana-Pacific s Humboldt fire retardant flakeboard (May 1975 • CertainTeed’s fiberglass insulation in 6”-thick rolls for easier handling and saving space (January 1976), and • Yale’s flrst gas and LP-gas industrial trucks with electronic ignition (May 1976

You can’t get better visibility for an industry announcement than having it appear on the front cover of The Merchant Magazine.

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The industry’s most talked-about company

Behind the scenes at Mungus-Fungus Forest Products Forty-four years ago this summer, The Merchant an-

According to Cutler, “We thought everyone had caught on to the gag until one man at a Dallas convention approached in all seriousness, saying he had bet $50 Hugh Mungus was real. Judging by the look on his face, I tried to let him down gently. He didn’t hit me, but he sure looked as if he would like to.”

Even now, nearly five decades later, we receive calls and emails from readers marveling at the strange name or informing us that they think some jokester pulled a fast one on us.

No, we’ve been pulling it on ourselves for the past 44 years.

nounced the first personnel change at Mungus-Fungus Forest Products and every month since has faithfully reported goings on at the mythical company as the last item in its “Movers and Shakers” column, from fencing specialist Barb Dwyer to delivery experts Rick Shaw and Sue Baroo.

Truth be told, MFFP was the brainchild of former publisher David Cutler, who recounts, “My eldest son first picked up the word ‘humungous’ surfing the California beaches. As it’s a funny word, it made us wonder if we could use it in a whimsical item in the Personals column, something readers might enjoy as a break from serious business.”

He added “Freddy Fungus” to the partnership to broaden the joke, to make sure readers knew it was all in fun. The company’s location in Climax, Nv., was borrowed from an old Dean Martin film.

Readers quickly related to the item. Some sent in their own suggetions, although many didn’t pass muster in a family magazine.

Merchant Firsts

• July 1, 1922. First issue of The California Lumber Merchant.

• July 1, 1942 . First “Honor Roll of Lumbermen in the Armed Services.”

• January 1, 1951. First subscription rate increase. Price rose from $2 to $3 for 24 biweekly issues.

• October l, 1954. First New Products section.

• January 1963. First monthly issue, after 40 years as biweekly.

• October 1966. First issue as The Western Lumber & Building Materials Merchant, reflecting its expanded coverage of other products and reach to all 13 states.

• January 1969. First “News Briefs” column.

• July 1975. First issue as The Merchant Magazine. It finally sunk in that our previous name was too long after readers kept calling us everything from The Western Lumber Machine and Lumber & Druggist to The Western Lover Merchant. So we shortened it to our longtime nickname.

• July 1978. First personnel change—Beau Dayshus—at MungusFungus Forest Products, Climax, Nv. • December 1978. First bylined “Editorial” by publisher David Cutler. Dave had been writing the introductory story in every issue for more than a decade, but finally decided to take credit.

• March 1982. First issue of sister pub Building Products Digest.

• December 1993. First pull-out, wall-hanging Deluxe Industry Calendar of Events.

• October 1998. First Traders Preview for NAWLA Traders Market.

• April 2001. First “Totally Random” editorial by new publisher Alan Oakes.

• February 2007. First “Olsen on Sales” column by James Olsen. In 15+ years, James has never missed a deadline and is now up to 187 stories and counting!

• January 2015. First “Across the Board” column by new publisher Patrick Adams.

• May 2015. First “FlashBack” column.

• May 2017. First “Transforming Teams” column by Affinity HR. • January 2019. First Merchant eWeekly digital newsletter.

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A35

LP Celebrates Its Golden Anniversary

Changing the industry with LP

By Cameron Bailey, senior corporate brand mgr.-siding, LP

July 20, 2022 marks LP Building

Solutions’ 50th anniversary, celebrating 50 years of growth and transformation from the company’s beginning in 1972.

In 2020, LP introduced its purpose statement of “Building a Better World.”

Despite the newness of the statement, LP has long delivered on this promise, whether through product innovation that ensures builders have access to durable, sustainable building materials that make jobsites more efficient, protecting the environment, minimizing waste, supporting our communities, developing our employees, diversifying our workplace, or building economic prosperity for future generations.

We spoke with someone who has been working at LP for over 30 years and has experienced first-hand the growth and transformation of LP as a company. Today, Lloyd Cudnohufsky is a plant manager, running LP’s oriented strand board mill in Hanceville, Al. A Virginia native, Cudnohufsky started working at LP in 1989 as a millwright at the company’s OSB mill in Sagola, Mi. Since then, multiple positions led him to his current role, which

he started in 2014. Cudnohufsky has been a part of the company through each of LP’s five CEOs and witnessed how the company and the building industry have grown and evolved to meet the needs of builders and homeowners.

A Brief History of LP

LP Building Solutions, formally Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, began as a forest products company with assets stretching from Louisiana to the Pacific Ocean. Today, LP operates 25 plants across the U.S., Canada, Chile, and Brazil.

LP pioneered the production of OSB in North America, opening the country’s first OSB mill in Hayward, Wi., in 1979. OSB would eventually revolutionize the home building industry in America, which had historically relied on plywood and solid wood (products popularized in the early 20th century).

In 40 years, OSB has gone from not being used at all in the U.S. and Canada to being used on 68% of all new home construction. This happened, in large part, because of LP. In the 1990s, LP introduced its first

LP’S SAWMILL in Big Lagoon, Ca., in 1973 was the dispatch point for service trucks that would (opposite right) deliver fuel and oil to the company’s logging crews.

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value-added sheathing, starting with LP TopNotch subflooring. LP also invented LP SmartSide Trim & Siding during this time that has since grown to a billion-dollar business.

In 2001, LP expanded into South America with the opening of its OSB mill in Panguipulli, Chile. At the time, only about 4% of housing used timber frame construction in Chile, and no building codes supported this type of construction. This would change dramatically over the next two decades as LP worked with the Chilean government to establish building codes for timber frame construction. Today, approximately 80% of new homes in Chile contain LP materials.

The 2000s and 2010s brought expansion and a core business shift from timberlands, plywood, and lumber operations to a focus on strand technology.

In 2017, the company embarked on a transformative journey from a forest products company to the technology-driven building solutions company that it is today.

Transformation over the Years

The saying goes “the only constant in life is change,” and LP is no exception. From the start, LP has constantly been transforming itself to better meet the needs of builders. While the company made an intentional shift in 2017 to focus on its value-added products like SmartSide Trim & Siding and its Structural Solutions portfolio, history shows that the company has always been on the forefront of innovation.

Cudnohufsky has experienced firsthand much of LP’s storied past. When he joined LP in 1989, the company was growing its production of OSB, a product that was new to the market and competing with plywood. As OSB production and popularity grew, so did LP. The company started producing value-added versions of its OSB sheathing and expanding its SmartSide Trim & Siding portfolio. Cudnohufsky said that leading a mill through change was exciting and that it gave the mill a new

to its core values and loyal to its employees. “In terms of business transformation over the years, it has given employees a lot of opportunity to become not just involved in this mill but in the entire organization. We’ve seen a lot of people grow in their careers at LP,” said Cudnohufsky.

Building a Better World Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

opportunity to perform. “The change was exciting for the mill. There was a lot of change for us and across all of LP’s mills,” he said.

With the strategic pivot in 2017 to become a building solutions company, redefining the company and refocusing its goals brought new challenges.

Cudnohufsky and his team rose to the occasion. Of the change, he commented that it was exciting to be a part of this chapter of LP’s history because its pav-

ing the path for the company’s future and growth potential.

That paradigm shift of redefining the company and refocusing its goals is congruent with how LP shook up the building industry in the 1980s by pioneering OSB and in the 2000s by introducing timber frame construction in Chile. While LP has constantly been evolving and growing to meet market demand and service its customers, the company has stayed true

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Part of “Building a Better World” is building an inclusive and opportunity-rich environment for employees. LP largely owes its success to people like Cudnohufsky who care deeply about working hard to elevate the building industry. One word came up again and again as we talked with Cudnohufsky, and that word was “opportunity.”

From the time Cudnohufsky joined the company in 1989, LP has transformed from a company that designs products to a company that looks to solve problems facing the entire industry. Cudnohufsky said that he is proud to be a part of this company and to truly feel part of a team that leads the building space in creating solutions. “I don’t think you can reach this growth without a good team, a talented team. It takes everybody,” he said.

1980s Although the Eighties may be remembered as the Decade of the Home Center, in reality the consumer-oriented home improvement store was born years earlier. At the time, lumberyards catered to the professional, selling to homeowners condescendingly.

In the early 1960s, some retailers began to recognize the potential of the DIY market. They altered their floor layout and store hours, and began promoting to the public Suddenly, homeowners could find lumber priced by the piece rather than the board foot and paneling priced by the panel rather than the square foot. They could roll dimension lumber, insulation and other building materials right out the front door instead of waiting for a ticket to be written and the merchandise tallied from the yard.

The new store hours allowed consumers to shop both after work and on their days off. Retailers added new departments, visual merchandising and colorful tabloid advertising. Store sizes grew to 20,000, 30,000, 40,000 sq. ft. Lumberyards became home centers.

In 1980, The Merchant enlisted consultant Bill Fishman to write a monthly column, “Home Center Merchant.” His first article cited six success stories: Ernst, Ole’s, Handyman, Builders Emporium, Grossman’s, and Pay ’n Pak. Soon after, a new chain was born that would redirect the home center trend and help put those six success stories out of business. Based in the South, the company wasn’t mentioned in our western magazine until a short item in the News Briefs in September 1983: “Atlanta-based Home Depot is negotiating to take over two ex-Woolco buildings and a Price Club location in the Greater Phoenix, Az., metro area for three warehouse-type home improvement stores...”

Within months, Home Depot announced plans for 20 new stores a year, including 100,000+-sq .ft. units in California. Competitors clamored to mimic the chain’s successful warehouse-sized format. Imitators copied their merchandise mix, sky-high steel racking, lumber carts, mousetrapping layout, ad format, shelf pricing, price guarantees, longer hours, service desk, brand names painted on the interior walls, orange-stenciled signs, and aproned employees.

But, in most markets, Depot seemed to do it all a little better. By the end of the decade, Home Depot had grown to #2 in industy sales, with its 80-some stores doing nearly as much business as industry leader Lowe’s 300+ units. Independents and smaller chains that tried to compete head to head with Depot, typically on price, began to drop. Ironically, many independents began to realize that one of the best ways to survive in the chain’s shadows was to return their focus to professionals.

Through the early 1980s, John Gaskin, owner of Capital Lumber, Phoenix, Az., recruited his son, Scott, to appear in his ads in The Merchant. Today, Scott Gaskin serves as president of Capital.

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Welcome, BPD – March 1982

The Merchant gets a kid sister

The Merchant ran an ad in December 1981 to publicize the arrival of a new publication for the South.

The story of The Merchant Magazine’s sister publication, Building Products Digest, is a tale of history repeating itself—backwards.

Jack Dionne’s success serving the South with The Gulf Coast Lumberman convinced him of the need for a new publication in the country’s other major lumber-producing region, the West.

Similarly, in the early 1980s, with The Gulf Coast Lumberman long since folded, Merchant publisher David Cutler saw the opportunity for a similar publication in the Southeast.

Working with editor Juanita Lovret, he launched Building Products Digest, replicating The Merchant’s format of business-building news and features, and its mission of fostering community within the regional LBM industry.

BPD initially was distributed in the 13 Southeastern states, from Texas to Florida, but 20 years ago expanded to

cover all 37 states west of the Rockies.

We are grateful that now, 40 years later, BPD continues to flourish, in both print and digital versions.

Serving the Pacific Northwest for over 50 years.

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1990s By 1990, war had been declared on the timber industry. Environmentalists, in recruiting the Northern spotted owl as their poster child, had put a sympathetic, big-eyed face on their radical anti-logging crusade.

Unlike the reserved industry, the preservationists were not publicity shy. They waged their battle in the press, in schools, and, ultimately, in courts, tying up countless legally-approved timber harvests through drawn-out lawsuits and hearings.

In June of 1990, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service listed the spotted owl as a threatened species, which translated into millions of acres of public and private timberland being placed off limits to harvesting. That year, 50 sawmills, plywood and veneer plants closed in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California. Another 50 closed in 1991. Partial closures decreased production in the region by an equal amount.

Rushing to fill the gap were alternate species, such as radiata and southern yellow pines, and substitute materials, like steel and plastic. More significantl , low supply encouraged better use of every inch of every log. New engineered wood products, stronger, longer and more available than their solid wood counterparts, came into their own.

Tighter supply also brought the industry closer together. Forest products companies began co-sponsoring promotional and educational campaigns, associations, videos, tours, ads, even sing-a-long tapes and coloring books for grade-schoolers, all to tell their side of the story. The public had to leam to take care of and better utilize a resource, not lock it up.

Noted Paul Ehinger in The Merchant in 1991: “The forest products industry in the Pacific Northwest is going through the most traumatic period of timber supply change in its history, (and) the problem continues to worsen. As always, the consumer and taxpayer will pay the ultimate cost of federal timber management policies.”

Change came fast and furious in the 1990s, in areas such as computerization (upper, Dataline May 1992) and engineered wood (lower, Western Woods, Inc., June 1996)

Osmose (now Koppers) joined The Merchant and the nation in welcoming our troops back from the Persian Gulf – July 1991 A41

The Merchant has enjoyed close relationships with industry associations, from national organizations such as NAWLA, which has provided a monthly “Thinking Ahead” column since 2014, to regional groups like the West Coast Lumber & Building Material Association. We asked former WCLBMA head Ken Dunham to reflect on the partnerships

Becoming part of a larger story

By Ken Dunham

Where does one begin in recognizing an industry icon

timbers for masts. Colonists had different ideas and figured that timber could be used for homes and other needs here.

The British officials often branded the trees with a “broad arrow mark.” But those clever colonials simply cut that brand off, and called the product “lumber,” not “timber.” The ensuing battles were yet another start to the American Revolution. Those guys tossing crates of tea in Boston, more than a year later, just had better PR. And so, yes, “lumber” is really an American term.

Western expansion meant a need for more lumber as towns were built and the railroads moved across the country. The local lumberyard was essential for these new towns, along with the general store, a saloon or two, and a livery stable. Usually the lumberyard was both a sawmill and retail yard.

Almost every state has a lumberyard, or several, more than 100 years old. For argument’s sake, probably the first one was in Jamestown, Va., about 1607. Any number of lumberyards in the East can claim operation from the mid-1700s to mid-1800s. In the West, the oldest are likely dating from the middle 1800s. California can even claim a sawmill, no longer in business, going back to 1818 in Fort Ross.

And what these businesses had to endure to prosper, not just survive! Fires, storms and other natural disasters. Wars from the Revolutionary War through the Civil War to the two World Wars. And the Great Depression and various recessions over the years added to the pressures. Government overregulation at the federal, state and local levels was and remains a challenge. Public perception of the wood products industry has changed over the years as well.

Few industries in America can match the LBM industry for family longevity. Any number of businesses are in their fourth and even fifth generations of family ownership.

The catchphrase of the LBM industry has been “sustainable, renewable and environmentally friendly.” More so than ever that’s true. As new and innovative uses and construction methods are applied, the industry has a robust future ahead.

I’m honored to have been part of this industry. And again, congratulations to The Merchant Magazine for its dedication and contributions to the ongoing story.

celebrating 100 years as a publication? For about anything to thrive for 100 years is an accomplishment in itself—unless you are a tree. (I just had to put that in, since this is the wood products industry. Sorry.)

Publications are always in transition... deadlines, advertising content, suitable stories, printing issues, and delivery challenges. Now add to that the need to have an online presence in addition to the print version. A somewhat limited and selected reader base for either the print version or online keeps the pressure on. And for anything to survive in the past two years, an added accomplishment.

To all of you at The Merchant Magazine, past and present, congratulations!

What makes The Merchant what it is? Timely articles on a wide range of LBM issues is a start, but other industry publications do that, too. What sets The Merchant apart is the personal touches. Not many magazines do a “Movers & Shakers” listing of people in this industry always in transition—a promotion, a new position, a retirement, an honor or recognition. And probably the best part is the roving photographer at most LBM events in the West getting face shots of almost everyone present. Just names and faces, no company names. This alone says what this industry is all about—people and those people who know each other.

Here’s to another 100 years and the changes ahead!

I still never miss an opportunity to promote the LBM, wood products, lumber, logging or timber industry, no matter what we call it. It’s all interconnected and is a business often done on just an handshake or verbal basis. The paperwork catches up later.

The challenges to this entire industry are constantly evolving and thankfully usually resolved more or less satisfactorily. Government regulation and legislation at all levels is always a major challenge. But if you can get that elected person into your business and they can see the environmental concerns, the respect for employees, and the challenges faced in production and availability, transportation and delivery issues, they usually see what this industry contributes.

A basic question is often “When did the American lumber industry begin?” The usual answer is the Jamestown colony where timber was turned into rough boards for the buildings.

We’ve come a long way since then. Or maybe not. The processes are about the same. Turn a log into lumber, and construct a building.

One history tidbit often missing in history classes is the role of the lumber industry in the American Revolution, notably the “Pine Tree Riot” in 1772. The British monarchy claimed to own all of the timber in the American colonies which was needed for shipbuilding and especially the tall

Ken Dunham served as executive director of the West Coast Lumber & Building Material Association from 2006-2020, after heading trade associations in Montana, Washington and Illinois; owning a regional advertising/PR firm, and managing over 250 political campaigns.

A42

A43

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2000s The year 2001 proved to be a watershed mark at The Merchant Magazine and beyond.

At home, longtime publisher David Cutler was ready to retire and sold the business to Alan Oakes. No sooner had the ink dried on the deal than came September 11, 2001. The industry, in fact the entire world, stopped and would never be the same.

Once travel resumed, Oakes and his staff resumed their frenetic pace of travel. The Merchant was committed to letting our readers and advertisers know that it was time to get back to business. Most notably, he expanded BPD’s coverage from the Southeast to the Midwest and Northeast, so we could serve all readers east of the Rockies, outside of The Merchant’s western base. For the first time, advertisers could access a complete national audience

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2010s In 2014, it was Oakes’ turn to hand off leadership of the company. New owner/publisher Patrick Adams quickly went to work making The Merchant and BPD the foundation for a far-reaching, full-service B2B publishing empire. 526 Media Group would serve not only lumbermen, but also similarly valued “American Bedrock Infrastructure Industries.” The fast-growing company currently offers three additional print publications (Deck Specialist, Surface & Panel, and ATF), a virtual events platform, and a host of digital offerings.

The onset of the pandemic may have thrown everyone a curveball, but The Merchant and our sister properties at 526 Media Group have been blessed to have weathered the storm and to continue to enjoy tremendous growth—in no small part due to the loyalty of our readers and advertisers. For that, and for our bright future together, we thank you.

A45

With his inexhaustable exuberance, Alan Oakes brought new energy to The Merchant during his decade-and-a-half of leadership. He made his presence felt at every function he attended—and the charming British accent didn’t hurt a bit.

100 years and counting...

By Alan Oakes

After retiring in early 2015, the last thing I thought I

decision to continue with their plans. But other companies that we had called for years but never spent a dime with us, started to ask about advertising. A few said it was because they had loved and avidly read the publications cover to cover over many years, realized it would be tough for us, and wanted nothing to happen to us. Truthfully, it brought tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat. Never in my business life had I received or seen such loyalty. This same story could be repeated after the 2008 housing market collapse. However, it was those early weeks in 2001, post-9/11, that cemented how we would be as a company going forward. It changed me as an owner and as a person. Over the years I saw time and time again how the industry rallied around those in need, even if they were staunch competitors.

As soon as we could fly, one of our first events was the NAWLA Traders Market in Dallas, an occasion that will remain forever in the minds and hearts of those who attended. The camaraderie, friendships, singing round the piano, and patriotic songs that even in recent days we still speak of.

From that day on, I knew we would be safe, but more importantly I felt part of the industry family.

As many readers probably sensed over the years, I began enjoying this great industry perhaps more than I should have.

Attending about 30 events every year, it became one long business party. I was always welcomed, and cannot think of a better way to have brought my 50-year career to a close. Attending NAWLA, 2nd Growth, the Crab Feed, and countless others, I made many personal friendships, along with fun, laughter and a beverage or two.

Lastly, most of my columns tried to help readers think about their businesses. And as I head back to my sofa, it’s easy to let technology swallow us up, but please do not allow the traditions, the personal contact, the handshakes to disappear. Cherish and maintain this industry’s uniqueness.

Certainly, as COVID has shown, nothing can be taken for granted. Never has there been more need for the continuity, information and tools that The Merchant provides month in and month out, year in and year out. So once again, my congratulations to The Merchant and my thanks to Patrick for allowing me to be part of the industry once again. I look forward to further celebrations in the years ahead. Good selling!

would be doing seven years later, would be writing a column to add to the 164 I had written during my stewardship of The Merchant Magazine and its sister publication Building Products Digest from 2001 to 2014. However, it is a great honor to be asked to write this column to help celebrate the centenary of The Merchant. Over 100 years it has survived and prospered through wars, the Great Depression, market upturns and downturns, and tragedies.

Very few companies achieve this milestone and in this digital world it is a great testament that my successor Patrick Adams, 526 Media Group, and his team can still successfully continue to serve this great industry with all its traditions and family values with a monthly magazine, although of course now supported with a number of digital tools.

In 1999, I had become disillusioned with corporate life and had after 25 years as a CEO caught between the board, owners and staff, I made the decision to retire early. I soon realized there were some elements of business life I missed and made the decision to bring the long-held thought of starting or buying my own company to reality. Soon I came across the then Cutler Publishing and an owner retiring, some 80 years of history and a good track record made the acquisition a good bet. I was not deterred by the fact that I didn’t know a thing about the LBM industry as an early career in sales and by then had 18 years of book publishing experience I thought optimistically would stand me in good stead.

I started attending events and getting to know the industry. It took a while to understand our place in the industry and just what a record of love and respect had been achieved under the prior three owners, especially my predecessor David Cutler. Those first couple of months were more than a bit scary frankly. With my British accent, speaking to some clients particularly in the South was probably quite hilarious to listen in on. But after three months I started to feel I was getting it. Business started to grow and then just as I started feeling comfortable... BANG... September 11, 2001.

That afternoon, I sent the staff home early and sat on my own in the office, forgetting the time. I realized my next column was now totally inappropriate. I started to put my thoughts of the day to paper as I considered the implications both short-term and long-term. I realized that day that we would be needed more than ever and we would, whatever the cost, support the industry in every way we could. That said, I feared how over the coming months we might survive, as all companies would tighten their belts with business overnight grinding to a complete halt.

It was a scary time. We called every customer we could to hear how they were doing, to pass on what we were hearing across the country, and to offer our support. It was then it sunk in what I had bought into. While we lost a few advertisers, most temporarily, most of them thankfully made the right

Alan Oakes served as publisher of The Merchant Magazine and BPD from 2001 to 2014.

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A47

Well wishes from longtime friends

Congratulations!

Congratulations on the 100-year anniversary of The Merchant Magazine. The Merchant and BPD continue to be at the forefront of our industry, covering events and providing relevant content.

I cannot help but reflect back 46 years ago when I first got into this industry, our office couldn’t wait to get the monthly issue and see the photos of who’s who. Technology wasn’t the same back then and The Merchant kept us all connected.

Technology has come a long ways and so have The Merchant and BPD. As you may have heard, I have begun the transition to what many call retirement. On July 1, I will be handing over the reins of CEO to Mark Avery. He is a great leader and will take this company to greater heights. I have had a great run here at Timber Products and am looking forward to seeing what the next era will entail.

Thinking back on my career, hiring someone smarter and better than me has been the factor that has led to any of the successes I have enjoyed. I still get to stay connected as I have accepted a position on the Timber Products board.

While I appreciate the congratulations I am receiving for being retired, I really see it as a transition to a new chapter.

This has been a time of reflection for me. While I can point to some pretty tough situations and events in my history, I feel incredibly blessed to have been a part of this industry. I had some remarkable mentors and I hope I have offered mentorship to those who have worked with me. I’ve always joked that my resumé looks like I cannot hold a job from all of the mergers and acquisitions. I got to be a corporate guy, and I had the era of owning my own companies. Customers, suppliers, co-workers, competitors and trade associations all go into the “stew” I call my career. It all went by too quickly.

My purpose for writing was really to thank you and all of your predecessors for the amazing support over the years.

Again, congratulations on your 100-year anniversary. It really is about the relationships and the people. I am grateful for all of it, and I believe you are too.

As an example, see one of our historic ads (above) addressing just this issue.

The Merchant Magazine, just like Maze, has stayed consistent and will continue to flourish and be the best in their field.

Lisa Martin, marketing director Maze Nails Peru, Il.

Steve Killgore, director Timber Products Springfield, Or. s

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The Merchant Magazine and Freres Engineered Wood both turn 100 years old the same year! Thank you for your 100-year commitment to the building products industry!

Innovation is our tradition, and The Merchant is THE avenue for getting our innovations to market. We wish The Merchant continued success in promoting the LBM and Mass Timber markets in the future.

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Maze Nails would like to congratulate The Merchant Magazine on 100 great years serving the LBM industry!

We want to welcome you to the Century Club, and thank you for always providing quality practices and products to the industry. As Maze Nails is getting ready to celebrate 175 years, we still stand by the same motto we did many years ago: “Don’t let the nails be the weak link in your building project to save a dollar.”

Tyler Freres, VP Freres Engineered Wood Lyons, Or. A48

Thank you!

It’s all about the people

By David Koenig

T

People are more important than the Product. And I have been fortunate to work side by side with some great ones.

I am grateful for those who mentored me (Dave Cutler and Juanita Lovret); those who challenged me to continually improve (Alan Oakes and Patrick Adams); those who’ve allowed me to mentor them (particularly Sara Graves and Stephanie Ornelas); the ebullient Nick Kosan; and especially my cherished co-pilot during most of the ride, Chuck Casey.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this commemorative issue as much as I’ve enjoyed compiling it. And, as always, I would love to hear from you (dkoenig@526mediagroup. com)—especially if you have a little news to share with the industry! I feel like we’re just getting started!

hirty-seven years ago, I first applied to work for The Merchant Magazine, armed with my newly minted journalism degree and a stack of published freelance articles. I had no inkling that the part-time, $1.65-an-hour gig as assistant editor would evolve into my career and one of the greatest joys of my life.

At the time, I knew nothing about the lumber industry; I probably thought Doug Fir was a client. So I continued to write freelance on the side, on other “more interesting” topics. Yet I soon realized that the lumber industry—and The Merchant’s role in it—was about much more than the products. It was primarily about the people, a tight-knit community we sought to tie even more closely together. This industry has become like my own small town, where everyone knows everyone, and benefits from sharing in each other’s successes and challenges.

Contacts, like Dwight Curran, shared with me their infectious love of our publications and this has helped me to love it even more. You have been a lively, engaged audience, and nothing makes me happier than to hear how much you enjoy reading our publications, and reminding us that what we do really matters.

Our crew, perhaps like many of yours, is small but mighty, so it’s easy to get caught up in our own duties, rushing to meet the latest deadline, and sometimes overlooking those at the next desk. I must constantly remind myself that the

David Koenig is managing editor of The Merchant Magazine and BPD, and editorial director of Deck Specialist and Surface & Panel. He has also written eight books, including the best-selling Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland and the justreleased Shooting Columbo.

A49

------------| ADVERTISERS INDEX PAGE A11

All-Coast Forest Products www.all-coast.com

A27

Pelican Bay Forest Products www.pelicanbayfp.com

17

Arxada www.lotusprotechnology.com

A29

Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual www.plmins.com

32

Atlantis Rail Systems www.atlantisrail.com

A34

RDB Solutions www.rdb-solutions.com

A22

Big Creek Lumber www.bigcreeklumber.com

Cover I, A2

Redwood Empire www.buyredwood.com

A13

Boise Cascade www.bc.com

A32

Reel Lumber Service www.reellumber.com

A7

C&E Lumber Co. www.celumber.com

A21

Rosboro www.rosboro.com

31

California Cascade Industries www.californiacascade.com

A43

RoyOMartin www.royomartin.com

A5

Capital Lumber www.capital-lumber.com

9

Simpson Strong-Tie www.strongtie.com

34

Chemco, Inc. www.chemco.org

A17

South Coast Lumber/PWL www.socomi.com

33

Coastal Forest Products www.ironwoods.com

A23

19

CT Darnell Construction www.ct-darnell.com

A10

Swaner Hardwood www.swanerhardwood.com

30

Digger Specialties www.westburyrailing.com

Cover II-3

Swanson Group Sales Co. www.swansongroup.biz

A47

Freres Lumber www.frereslumber.com

41

Timber Products www.timberproducts.com

39, A9

Huff Lumber Co. www.hufflumber.com

28

TIVA Building Products www.tivabp.com

A25

Humboldt Sawmill www.mendoco.com

25

UFP Industries www.ufpedge.com

A44

Idaho Timber

24

Utah Lumber Co. www.utahlumber.com

22

International Wood Products www.iwpllc.com

5

West Fraser www.westfraser.com/osb

A14

JM Thomas Forest Products www.thomasforest.com

36

Western Forest Products www.westernforest.com/products

27

Jones Wholesale Lumber Co. www.joneswholesale.com

A35

Kelleher Lumber Sales www.kelleher.com

29 A40

Maze Nails www.mazenails.com

Straight Line Transport www.straight-line-transport.com

Western Lumber www.westernlumber.com

Best Value. Superior Quality. Environmentally Responsible.

A37

Located in Sumner, Washington, Western Wood Preserving Co. has been a manufacturer of pressure treated wood products, supplying residential, commercial and industrial markets of the Pacific Northwest since 1971. In addition, our strategic location near the ports of Tacoma and Seattle, provides easy access to the Alaskan, Hawaiian and Pacific Rim markets.

Our facility includes 12 acres of treatment, drying and storage areas, and produces top quality treated wood products for residential and commercial consumers in the wholesale market.

A39 253-863-8191 • 800-472-7714 • westernwoodpreserving.com

Western Wood Preservers Institute www.wwpinstitute.org Western Wood Preserving Co. www.westernwoodpreserving.com

NatureWood®, Advance Guard®, FlamePro®, and CCA treated wood products are registered trademarks of Koppers Performance Chemicals Inc. and are produced by independently owned and operated wood treating facilities. © 3/2020

WWd Merchant ad 4_20.indd 1

3/24/20 7:43 PM

A16

Mount Storm Lumber Co. www.mountstorm.com

A31

Western Woods, Inc. www.westernwoods.com

43

NAWLA www.nawla.org

23

Westminster Industries Ltd. www.westmin.ca

37

North Idaho Post & Pole www.northidahopostandpole.com

7

Weyerhaeuser Distribution weyerhaeuser.com/distribution

20-21

Orgill www.orgill.com

13

Woodway Products www.woodwayproducts.com

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august 2022

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